HSM8
by ZefronsAngel
Summary: Sequel to HSM 4, 5, 6, and 7. Troy and Gabriella, along with their kids, are now a few years older. They are a very close family, but will it stay that way when things-both good and bad-happen? TROYELLA.
1. Crisis

Eleven-year-old Troy Bolton Jr. ran from the Northeast Albuquerque Middle School bus stop to his house as fast as he could, leaving his twin sister Brie lagging behind, calling for him to wait. Over the years, the two siblings had gotten pretty close to each other, making them really good friends despite the occasional arguments they still had.

"Dad! Dad!" Troy Jr. shouted as he flung the front door open and ran into the living room. "Guess what? Guess what?"

Troy Bolton Sr., Troy Jr.'s father, walked out of the kitchen, where he had been getting a snack. Now, at almost thirty-two years old, his hair was no longer messy-looking and falling into his eyes; instead it was cut a bit shorter and combed out of his face. Since his father, Jack Bolton, the coach for East High's basketball team-the Wildcats-had taken on a job teaching gym classes at one of the elementary schools, Troy had moved up from assistant coach to head coach in addition to helping his wife, Gabriella, with the drama club at the same school.

"Dad! Today during free period I tried out for the basketball team and made it!" Troy Jr. continued. "And the coach said I was the best player he had ever seen!"

"That's great!" Troy congratulated his son.

"Troy! What was the big hurry?" Brie wondered as she walked into the house, shutting the door her brother had ne- glected to shut as she entered.

"I wanted to tell Dad that I made the basketball team," Troy Jr. replied, his blue eyes turning toward his sister.

"I gotta go get ready for ballet," Brie announced, throwing the soft pink book bag she had been carrying onto the floor. "Is Mom home yet?"

"No," Troy answered. "She had to stay late at East High." The high school got out forty-five minutes before the three middle schools in the district did, but since it was the first day of the new school year, Gabriella had been required to stay past dismissal time to talk with the other geometry teachers. It was her first year teaching the subject, so she was a bit confused on the best ways to teach.

"Will she be back soon? I really need to get to ballet on time."

Troy shook his head no. "She won't be home until four-thirty." He then glanced at the clock that was on the wall. "It's three-twenty now. And your ballet class starts at what, four?"

Brie nodded in confirmation.

"Well Julliette's bus comes at quarter of four." _I don't want my youngest daughter to have no one there waiting for her when she gets off the bus.; she's only in first grade, _Troy thought to himself. Then, turning toward his son, he asked, "Do you think you could go to the elementary school bus stop at about three-forty and wait for your little sister's bus to come?"

"Of course. I'm almost twelve years old," was Troy Jr.'s response.

"And then when it comes, you can walk her home and keep an eye on her until I get back from taking Brie to ballet."

"Sure, I can do that."

"Great." Moving his attention back to his daughter, Troy said, "Brie, whenever you're ready, we can go."

"Okay. Thanks for working everything out, Dad," Brie smiled, hugging Troy before going upstairs to get changed into her leotard, tights, and ballet slippers.

"I'm gonna go out back and shoot some hoops," Troy Jr. told his father.

"Make sure you come in and check the time every so often so you know when it's three-forty," Troy instructed as he watched his son run into the kitchen, heading for the back door.

"I will," Troy Jr. called.

* * *

"Alright. One, two, three, four, and jete," Miss Emmy, Brie's ballet teacher, spoke.

Brie, along with the three other girls who were in the class, performed a fairly simple ballet jump, being sure to end in coupe. Coupe was one of the finishes used to complete a dance step.

"Now pirouette," Miss Emmy called out.

Brie did a perfect pirouette, taking care to keep the leg she was spinning on-also known as the standing leg-perfectly straight. Her opposite leg was bent in posse.

"Nice job, Brie," Miss Emmy complimented. "Abbie, you need to work on keeping your standing leg straight; I keep seeing your knee bend. Jessica, you weren't staying on your toes while you were spinning. And Marin, the toes on the foot of your bent leg were not being kept pointed."

"I did it right!" Jessica, a tall girl with brown eyes and straight blonde hair, argued. "Brie's the one who messed up!"

"No, you didn't do it right and no, Brie didn't mess up," Miss Emmy corrected.

Jessica gave Brie an angry glare. _Stupid perfect princess,_ she thought hatefully to herself.

"I'm going to give you all five minutes to try to do a pirouette with no mistakes. Brie, I know you already did it, but it won't hurt you to practice the move a little more. I'll be walking around watching everyone and helping anyone who needs help," Miss Emmy announced.

Abbie walked over to Brie. The two girls had been best friends since preschool, and always helped each other with difficult ballet moves-if one of them could do it correctly, that is. "Can you watch me to make sure my standing leg stays straight?" she wondered.

"Sure, Abbie," Brie replied.

Abbie got her legs into the necessary position, then displayed a pirouette.

"Your knee was just a tiny bit bent this time," Brie told her friend.

"Can I see you do one?"

Brie nodded, then showed Abbie a pirouette. "That's what mine look like."

"I'm going to ask you to stop now," Miss Emmy said when time to practice pirouettes was over.

All the girls stood still.

"I just want to tell you all that auditions for our Christmas show-the Nutcracker-will be held here Saturday afternoon at one o' clock. So if you would like to perform in that, you can show up."

"I'm gonna get the part of Clara," Jessica bragged loudly. The role of Clara was the largest, most difficult role in the ballet for a girl her age and level.

"Well actually only girls en pointe can play Clara," Miss Emmy explained. Pointe was the same thing as ballet, only danced while wearing special shoes called toe shoes. Toe shoes allowed ballerinas to go all the way up on the tips of their toes. "You will all end up being either dolls in the Dolls and Soildiers dance, Russians in Pepperment, Chinese in Tea, or the Spaniard corps in Coffee."

Jessica rolled her eyes.

"Well that's all for today," Miss Emmy went on, ignoring Jessica. "You may all go."

Brie walked out of the ballet room and into the spacious waiting area. Looking around, she didn't see either of her parents. However, she did catch sight of her grandmother-and her father's mother-Lucille Bolton. Making her way over to her, she questioned, "Grandma, are you taking me home? What happened to Mom and Dad?"

Lucille looked at her granddaughter. "Brie, your mother was in a car accident on her way home from work."

Brie felt tears make their way into her eyes. "I-Is she alive?" she asked hesitantly.

"Yes, and she's at the hospital now. Your father and brother are with her. Grandpa is at your house keeping an eye on Julliette."

"W-Will she be okay?"

"I don't know," Lucille admitted. "I'm not even sure how bad she is."

Abbie, who had heard what had happened, walked over to Brie and quickly hugged her. "I'm sorry. I hope your mom will be alright."

"T-Thanks," Brie managed.

"I'll see you in school tomorrow, okay?"

Brie nodded lightly.

"Okay, well let's go," Lucille instructed. "Do you want me to take you home or to the hospital?"

"Hospital," Brie answered.

* * *

Brie ran into Gabriella's hospital room crying, her grandmother behind her. "Mom!" she gasped as she noticed her mother's left wrist and hand were all bandaged up, one of her cheeks had a bruise on it, and her brown eyes were shut; she was unconscious.

"Please don't leave me," Troy, who was sitting next to his wife holding her uninjured hand and stroking it gently with his fingers, pleaded as tears spilled out of his bright blue eyes.

Brie looked across the room and spied her brother sitting down on a chair that the hospital had provided for the room. Seeing there was an empty one beside him, she went over and seated herself.

Lucille walked over to her twin grandchildren. "Do you two want me to get you any dinner from the hospital cafeteria?"

Both Troy Jr. and Brie shook their heads no.

"Would you like me to stay here or should I go back to your house?"

"You can go if you want," Brie answered.

Troy Jr. nodded, agreeing with his sister.

"Alright, well I think your dad has his cell phone with him. Just call me when you want to go home and I'll pick you up. I think Grandpa and I will stay overnight at your place since I'm sure your dad will wanna stay here with your mom until she's ready leave the hospital."

"Okay," the twins said quietly. "Bye."

"Bye," Lucille returned before exiting the room of her daughter-in-law.

"H-Honey, please wake up," Troy begged. "Please. I-I'm not at all ready to say good-bye."

A groan came from Gabriella's lips as she opened her eyes halfway. "Wildcat?" she mumbled questioningly, using the nickname she had for her husband.

"Gabriella!" Troy exclaimed softly.

Gabriella sat up slowly and wrapped her arms around Troy, burying her face in his shoulder.

Troy returned his wife's hug. "How are you feeling, my love?"

"Sore," came Gabriella's reply. "All over."

"Poor baby," Troy murmured. Then, after a pause, he asked, "What happened during the accident? Do you remember anything?"

"Well I was just driving, then someone behind me started speeding up really fast and hit the back of my car. The vibration of the crash caused the window of the passenger seat to crack a bit. I leaned over to see how bad it was damaged, and when I did, it shattered. I cut my wrist and hand. Then, I started to feel dizzy all of a sudden. The last thing I remember is hitting my head on the steering wheel."

"What about your cheek? It's bruised."

"I guess I must have hit that, too at the time I hit my head."

Troy nuzzled Gabriella's hair gently. "Did you know Troy and Brie were here?"

"No," was Gabriella's answer. She lifted her head and looked around the room. Once she saw her two oldest children, she smiled. "Hi."

"Hi, Mom," both of the twins greeted.

"Precious Gabby, I want you to lie back down," Troy instructed.

"Lie with me."

"Okay; I will," Troy promised as he released Gabriella from his arms.

Gabriella let go of Troy, also, and placed her head back on the pillow that was at the top of the bed.

Troy first grabbed a blanket which was lying next to the bed on a small table, then laid down next to his wife, tucking both him and her in.

Gabriella snuggled up to Troy, yawning.

"You look sleepy. Why don't you take a little nap?" Troy suggested, placing a kiss onto Gabriella's nose, then her un-bruised cheek, then, finally, her soft lips.

Gabriella returned the kiss on the lips, then snuggled up to her husband and closed her tired eyes.

* * *

Time had passed until the clock showed it was seven-thirty p.m. Troy Jr., Brie, and Julliette were all sitting in the living room with their grandparents.

"What time do you guys usually go to bed?" Jack asked.

"Julliette has to at quarter of eight, and Troy and I have to around eight-thirty," Brie replied.

"Oh, okay. Well Julliette, you have fifteen more minutes before bedtime."

Julliette nodded, indicating she had heard her grandfather. "Is Mommy gonna come home to say good night to me?"

"No, I'm afraid she isn't, honey," Lucille answered sympathetically. "She got hurt bad so she needs to stay at the hospital to get better. But I'm sure you can call her on the phone and talk to her-as long as she's not asleep or anything."

"Alright; I will. Is Daddy coming home or is he hurt, too?"

"Daddy's staying with Mommy at the hospital. He's not hurt, though. Not at all. He's perfectly fine. He just wants to be with Mommy because he worries about her and wants to make sure she's alright overnight. Also, the hospital can be a pretty lonely place, so he's good company for her."

"I hope Julliette's gonna be okay without Mom and Dad here," Brie whispered to her brother, who was right next to her.

"Me, too," Troy Jr. whispered back. Then, raising his voice back to its normal volume, he wondered, "How long is Mom supposed to be in the hospital for? And is Dad ditching work until she's out?"

"I'm not sure," Jack responded. "Your dad-I'm sure-will call as soon as he hears something. And I wouldn't say he's 'ditching work'. He probably called East High and got a few days off for himself."

"Oh, okay."

Just then, a slender, full-grown calico cat lumbered out from underneath the sofa.

"Hi, Tutu," Brie greeted, getting up from her seat to lift the cat into her arms. When she was a little girl-four to be exact-her parents had bought both her and her brother a kitten. Hers was a female, while Troy Jr.'s was an orange tabby male named Hoops. Both of them loved and cared for the little animals very much.

Tutu let out a loud purr.

"I want to pet her. Please?" Julliette begged, looking at her older sister.

"You can." Brie brought the cat over to her sister. "Do you want her to sit on your lap, too?"

"Yeah," Julliette smiled.

Brie placed her cat on her sister's lap, then took her seat by Troy Jr. again as she brushed orange, brown, and white cat hairs off her purple shirt.

"Do you have any homework?" wondered Lucille.

"No," Julliette replied.

"No," Troy Jr. and Brie echoed.

"There's never homework on the first day of school," Brie added.

"Oh, I forgot about that. It's been a while since I was in school," Lucille told her grandchildren.

* * *

"Gabby, do you want some water before you go to sleep?" Troy wondered. It was nine-fifteen at night, and Gabriella was feeling exhausted-even after the nap she had taken around dinnertime.

"Yes."

Troy grabbed the cup of water his wife had been given to drink during the evening meal that had been served and handed it to her carefully. "Here you go."

"Thanks, Wildcat." Gabriella took the cup from Troy, sipped a little bit of the liquid inside, then handed it back to him. "I'm finished for now."

"Alright." Troy put the cup back where he had gotten it from, then kissed Gabriella good night.

Gabriella returned the kiss, then pleaded, "Please sleep next to me tonight. It'll make me feel safe and secure, especially since hospitals scare me a little."

Troy climbed onto the bed and pulled Gabriella close to him. "I know. I don't like hospitals, either."

* * *

"How was school today?" Lucille, who was sitting in the living room reading, asked as Troy Jr. and Brie walked inside the house carrying their backpacks.

"It was okay," Brie answered with a shrug. "We didn't do anything that exciting and we got homework; I hate doing homework."

"I had gym today," Troy Jr. responded. "We played soccer. I don't really like that sport too much, but it wasn't that bad. I can't wait for my first basketball practice; it's tomorrow."

"Well I have some news for you," Lucille began as she put her book down.

"Is it about Mom?" Troy Jr. questioned.

"Yes. Your dad called about three hours after you two left this morning. He said she's gonna be leaving the hospital tomorrow afternoon. But once she's at home, she's still supposed to rest and take it easy."

"She never takes it easy, though," Brie remarked.

"Don't worry, Brie. Your father will make her. He can be very firm when it comes to your mother's health. I'm sure if he sees she's doing too much, he'll make her stop and sit or lie down for a little."

"Once she had a cold and Dad totally freaked out. He told her to stay in bed, he made soup, and he spent the whole day with her....leaving Brie and I to watch Julliette," Troy Jr. said, sounding a bit annoyed as he finished speaking his words.

"Be quiet, Troy!" Brie teased.

"No, you be quiet," Troy Jr. teased in return. "Now I'm gonna go to Jake's house; we're gonna play basketball. I'll be back here in time for dinner." Jake Benlin had been Troy Jr.'s friend since the first day of preschool. He shared his love of basketball, and also had made it onto the middle school team.

"Wait a second. I think you need to do your homework before you go out anywhere," Lucille told her grandson.

Troy Jr. responded by slowly trudging towards the staircase which led to the upper level of the Bolton house. _I guess the sooner I start the sooner I'll get done._

At that moment, the phone began ringing.

"I'll get that," Brie offered, dashing toward the cordless phone and taking it off the hook. "Hello?"

"Hey, Brie," came Abbie's voice from the other line. "I'm having major problems with my ballet. Can you come over and practice with me?"

"Sure Ab," Brie agreed. "I just gotta do my homework first."

"Alright. How long will that take you?"

"Like twenty minutes, half an hour, something like that."

"Okay. Well I'll see you in a little bit, then. Bye."

"Bye." Brie hung the phone back up before hurrying upstairs.

* * *

"Wildcat, I'm so sore," Gabriella, who was lying next to Troy in her hospital bed, complained.

Troy gave his wife a sympathetic look. "I know, I know, baby girl," he murmured. "And if I could take the pain away from you, I would. But I can't. So I'll do the next best thing I can do."

"What's that?" Gabriella wondered.

"Give you kisses, cuddles, hugs, massages, and when we get home-hot baths to ease the pain. Sound good?"

Gabriella smiled lightly and nodded. "I can't wait to go home. This bed isn't the most comfy place to rest in; the matress is too firm, and the covers they give are made out of scratchy material."

"Yeah, I don't quite get that. This is supposed to be a place for people to recover from sickness or injuries, but yet while they're recovering, they have to be uncomfortable."

Gabriella sighed.

"I'm sorry, baby girl. I'm sorry you have to suffer through all this. But tomorrow after you get home, I will spoil you rotten. That's a promise."

"Wildcat, you're the sweetest."

"I need to be sweet," was Troy's response. "If I was bitter, then you would hate me."

Gabriella giggled her sweet giggle. "You know you're crazy, right?"

"Yeah, I know. I'm reminded of that almost every day," Troy smiled as he wrapped his arms around his wife. "And I love having that reminder."

Gabriella returned Troy's hug as she snuggled into him.

"I'm not squeezing you too tight, am I?" Troy checked.

"No, not at all," Gabriella answered.

"Alright; just making sure. I don't want to hurt you any more than you're already hurt."

"I don't think you ever would. You're so gentle with me."

Troy, still keeping Gabriella in his grasp, began rubbing her back slowly. "How does this feel?"

"Good," Gabriella replied, sounding very relaxed as she tightened her grip on Troy and buried her face into his shoulder affectionately. "So good."

Troy pressed a kiss onto his wife's head. "I'm glad. And I really hope you feel better-completely better-soon."


	2. Back From the Hospital

_Mom and Dad are home!_ Brie, who was upstairs in her bedroom doing homework, thought excitedly to herself as she heard the front door swing open. Her brother was still at school because of his first basketball practice, Julliette's bus had not yet arrived, and Jack and Lucille had left the house that day since they had known their son was coming back from the hospital with his wife. So Brie was all alone.

"We're back," Troy called.

Brie ran out of her room and down the stairs, a smile on her face. She hugged each of her parents while exclaiming, "I'm so happy you're back! I missed you being at home!" Then, calming down, she wondered, "Mom, how are you feeling?"

"Still sore, but other than that, good-and happy to be out of that hospital," Gabriella replied.

"Is your brother here?" Troy asked.

Brie shook her head no. He's still at school; today's the first day of his basketball practice."

"Oh, I didn't know that," Troy commented. "Will he be coming home on the late bus?"

Brie nodded. "Yeah."

"What time does that come?"

"I don't know. Since I'm not in any after-school activities, I never thought to find out."

Suddenly, Gabriella cut in and changed the subject. "What should I make for dinner tonight? Would steak be okay, or should I make chicken instead?"

"Neither, baby girl," Troy responded. "You're not making any dinner. You're going upstairs to our room and resting." He then lifted his wife into his arms and carried her up to the master bedroom. Lying her down on the double bed, he tucked blankets tightly around her body.

"Wildcat!" Gabriella giggled.

In a slightly teasing voice, Troy began singing, "Go to sleep, go to sleep, go to sleep baby Gabby-"

"Stop!" Gabriella instructed affectionately. "I'm not a baby!"

"You're my baby."

Gabriella smiled.

At that moment, Brie appeared in the doorway. "Mom, Dad, I just looked at the time, and it's 3:37. Julliette's bus will be here soon. Could I walk down to her bus stop and wait for her? I know you don't like her walking home alone."

Troy took his attention away from Gabriella for a second and answered his daughter's question. "Of course; go right ahead. That would be very helpful to your mother and I."

"Okay. Well I'm gonna go then. I'll be back in a little bit with Julliette." With that, Brie dashed into her room, quickly slipped on a pair of shiny white ballet flats with black trim around the opening, then hurried downstairs and over to the front door. Opening it, she walked outside, then shut it gently behind her. As she walked down the driveway and onto the sidewalk which lined the semi-busy street, she noticed a 'for sale' sign in the yard of her family's neighbor's house. _Oh, our neighbors are moving? Well, that would make sense. They seem kind of old......like they're ready for a retirement home._

* * *

Julliette skipped off the bus and over to her older sister, her light brown curls bouncing up and down. "Guess what? In school today James invited me over to his house!" James Baylor was Julliette's best-and only-friend. He was the son of Troy and Gabriella's friends, Zeke and Sharpay. "And also, he said he's gonna have a new brother or sister!"

"Really? That's great!" Brie exclaimed. "Now let's start walking home...Mommy and Daddy came back a little bit ago. You can tell them about what all James told you. I'm sure they'll be interested."

"Mommy and Daddy are home! Yay!" Julliette ran in the direction of her house as fast as she could.

"Julliette, wait for me!" Brie shouted, sprinting after her sister.

Julliette didn't stop running until she reached the front door of the family's home. Since it was unlocked, she let herself in.

Brie, out of breath, slowly trudged through the doorway, then shut the door behind her. "Oh....my....gosh....Julliette. Please....don't....run....so....fast....  
next....time."

Julliette didn't respond. Instead, she threw the purple backpack she had with her onto the floor and rushed upstairs and through the open doorway to her parents' room. "Mommy! Daddy!"

Troy and Gabriella, who were lying down and affectionately pushing each other around on their bed, looked toward their youngest child.

"Mommy! Daddy!" Julliette repeated as she dashed right up to her parents and hugged first her mother, then her father. After that, she forced her way in between them and laid down. "I missed you so much! Did you miss me so much? Mommy, Grandma told me that you were hurt. Are you okay? Daddy, why did you have to stay with Mommy?"

"Slow down with the talking," Troy laughed as he got into a sitting position and pulled his daughter onto his lap.

"Okay," Julliette sighed. She then repeated her list of questions.

"Yes, we missed you so much-along with your brother and sister, of course. And Mommy's alright-a bit sore, but alright. So you don't have to worry."

"Daddy didn't have to stay with me," Gabriella told her daughter, answering the last question that was in her list. "He just wanted to because he loves me a lot and he was worried about me. And also, I would have been lonely there all by myself. There's nothing really to do except watch TV, eat, and sleep."

"Daddy loves you more than he loves me, doesn't he?" Julliette questioned thoughtfully after a pause.

"I love you, along with Troy and Brie, as my children. But I love Mommy as my wife, which means I love her with a different kind of love. It doesn't mean I love you less, it just means I don't feel the same type of love toward you as I feel toward Mommy," Troy explained.

"Is that why you kiss Mommy in a yucky way and sometimes tell me to get Troy or Brie instead of you and Mommy if I have a problem after I go to bed because you wanna do 'Mommy and Daddy stuff' in your room until your bedtime? Because you never do that stuff with me."

Troy and Gabriella shared an amused smile before Troy replied, "Yes, that's exactly why." To himself, he thought, _Wow. She's gonna grow up to be exactly like my Gabby-smart, thoughtful, and curious. _

"Are yucky kissing and 'Mommy and Daddy stuff' fun to you?"

"Yes, very," Gabriella replied with a dreamy look on her face.

"I'm never gonna kiss anyone in a yucky way. It's gross. Or do 'Mommy and Daddy stuff.' Even though I don't know what that is, I'm sure it's something.....um......weird."

Gabriella, giggling a little, slid closer to Troy, then sat up, got behind him, and wrapped her arms gently around his neck while resting her chin on his shoulder and closing her tired eyes. "I'm in line to sit on your lap," she whispered.

Julliette, apparantly overhering her mother, commented, "You're too big to sit on Daddy's lap!"

"Oh, Mommy's never gonna be too big sit on my lap," Troy disagreed gently. "Because she'll be a baby forever."

"Mommy's not a baby!"

Gabriella giggled again as she lovingly nuzzled Troy's shoulder.

"Yes?" Troy responded, turning his head to look at his wife.

"Hold me."

After pressing a kiss onto Gabriella's cheek, Troy looked at his daughter again. "Julliette, could you please let Mommy have a turn with me now? Maybe you can go find Brie and see if she'll play with you for a little."

Julliette obediently got off her father's lap, slid onto the floor, then walked out if the room.

Gabriella immediately climbed onto Troy and snuggled against his chest.

Troy began gently stroking his wife's hair. "I was thinking that tonight after the kids all go to bed, I could give you a hot bath and a long, relaxing massage.....along with lots of hugs, kisses, and cuddles of course. Just like I promised you at the hospital. Does that sound good?"

Gabriella nodded, smiling.

"Mommy, Daddy! I forgot to tell you something!" Julliette shouted as she ran back into her parents' bedroom.

"What is it?" Gabriella wondered.

"James invited me over to his house! And he also said he's gonna have a new brother or sister!"

"Really? That's great! I'll have to call Mrs. Baylor sometime and see what a good day for you to go over to play with him is. And he's gonna have a new brother or sister?"

"Yeah. I wish I could have a little brother or sister, too. But I guess there's a limit of only three kids per mommy."

"No there isn't," Troy cut in. "It's just that after you were born, Mommy didn't want any more babies for a while. Maybe someday she'll have another one, though."

"Really? That would be so great!" Julliette exclaimed. She then ran out of the room calling, "Brie! Brie! Mommy said maybe she'll have another baby!"

"Well, I guess you'd better start trying to get me pregnant," Gabriella sighed. "Since you basically promised her that I would have another child."

"I said 'maybe,'" Troy protested. "But yeah, I think she did take the 'maybe' as a definite thing."

Just then, Gabriella's cell phone, which was on the end table that was next to the bed, rang.

Gabriella got off of Troy's lap and reached for her phone. Looking at the caller ID, she saw it was Kelsi Neilson-no wait, Kelsi _Evans_. She was one of Gabriella's friends from high school and the wife of Sharpay's twin brother, Ryan. "Hey, Kelsi."

"Hi, Gabriella," Kelsi greeted.

"So, what's been going on? How's Karli?" Karli was Ryan and Kelsi's two-year-old daughter.

"Nothing much has been going on and Karli is doing fine."

"That's good."

"Anyway, I was just calling because I wanted to know if you, Troy, and the kids would want to come up to New York for a visit sometime-maybe over one of the holiday breaks from school. I know there are none until Thanksgiving, but I wanted to be sure I called you in plenty of time." Yes, Ryan and Kelsi lived in New York. They had attened Julliard University-which was in New York City-after graduating high school, then decided they wanted to stay in the state.

"That sounds great!"

"I'm gonna see if Chad, Taylor, Zeke, Sharpay, and their kids would want to come up, too." Three years ago, Chad and Taylor had _finally_ gotten married. It would have been sooner, but Chad kept trying to propose while holding a basketball, which just made Taylor think he was joking. But finally, he gave up that idea, and bought a decent-yet cheap-engagement ring. Then, a year after the wedding, Taylor had a baby boy named Joseph-Joey for short-who was currently the same age as Ryan and Kelsi's daughter.

"That would be really nice! I can't wait!"

"Well I'll call you with more details later. Karli just told me she has to go to the bathroom. I'd better take her there before she has an accident. Bye."

"Bye." Gabriella hung up her phone and put it back on the end table. Then, turning to Troy, she said, "That was Kelsi. She wants us, Chad, Taylor, Zeke, Sharpay, and all of our kids to come up to visit them over one of the holiday vacations from school."

"That sounds like fun! Only I don't know if Chad would be able to go. The NBA starts pre-season training in a week. It must be hard for him. I'm glad I'm not a professional basketball player." When he was younger, both Troy and Chad had wanted to play for the NBA, but falling in love had changed Troy's mind. However, Chad had stuck to his dream and was currently playing for the Golden State-also known as California-Warriors.

"I'm glad you're not, too. I would miss you too much if you had to be gone for over half the year."

"I know. You need me far more than the NBA needs me. The NBA is for men like Chad who love basketball more than anything-including their family."

Gabriella hugged Troy tightly. "I feel bad for Taylor and Joey."

* * *

Troy Jr. ran upstairs. "Dad, Dad!"

_I guess Troy's home,_ Troy thought to himself.

At that moment, Troy Jr. appeared in the doorway of his parents' room. "Dad, guess what? We did a contest in basketball practice to see who could shoot the most baskets in two minutes, and I won! Even the eighth graders couldn't do better than me! And Coach Loden-that's my coach-he asked me who my dad was, and I told him, and he said that the team was lucky that another Bolton was playing on it!"

"That's great!" Troy complimented.

Gabriella, who was lying with her head resting in Troy's lap, told her son, "I can't wait to see you play!"

"Our first game isn't until the end of October. We just started practicing really early so we'll be extra prepared!"

"That's good," Troy commented. "It's always good to be ready."

"Oh, can I go over to Jake's house for dinner tonight? He asked his parents already and they said it was okay."

"Troy, your mother just got out of the hospital. Don't you wanna stay home and visit with her? You didn't even ask how she was feeling yet! Your sisters both asked."

Troy Jr. rolled his blue eyes, which were the same color as his father's, and pushed his light brown hair out of his face. When he was little, it had been curly, but as he grew, it had gradually straightened out. "Fine. Mom, how are you?"

"Not too bad," Gabriella replied.

"Troy, I think she would have preferred it without the eye rolling," Troy scolded. "I thought you got out of the 'prone to a bad mood' phase, but I guess you didn't."

"Well at least I don't throw racecars at people anymore!"

"Yeah. But you graduated from racecar throwing to eye rolling, which still isn't good. And the answer to having din-ner at Jake's house is no. Your mother needs to relax, so all you kids need to stay here and help with stuff."

"What stuff?"

"I want you to help Brie and Julliette clean the living room-but first do your homework."

"Cleaning? That's for girls." Troy Jr. wrinkled his nose-which looked very much like his mother's-in disgust.

"Troy, you gotta calm down and stop making a big deal out of everything."

"Dad, why are you not being cool? No one says 'calm down' anymore! It's supposed to be 'chill out!' What's wrong with you? You're not Grandpa."

"Troy, get in your room, do your homework, then go downstairs and help your sisters clean. I help your mother out all the time with things you would call 'girly' things.'"

"That's because you treat her like she's helpless! She sneezes once and you're all like 'Oh no! Go to bed! Troy, Brie, keep an eye on Julliette!' It's the most ridiculous thing EVER! And then you couldn't even be home the past couple days because you had to make sure Mom was alright at the hospital. Now she's perfectly fine and she's not doing anything around here!"

"She's sore," Troy informed his son in a very annoyed tone.

"Oh. Well then why are you just lying around, too? Why aren't you cleaning? Get your lazy butt off the bed."

"If your mom wanted me to clean, then I would. But she wants me to rest with her, so that's what I'm doing. And don't talk to me like that."

Troy Jr. stomped angrily out of the room. _Stupid Dad. He makes no sense. Why can't I just go over to Jake's house? Mom is fine. She's capable of doing stuff. Dad's just being overprotective-like he always is._

"Troy, what's wrong?" Brie, who was in the hallway, wondered.

"Dad," Troy Jr. mumbled. "He's all like 'Clean the living room, do your homework, be polite to Mom.'"

"Well he's probably just tired. After all, there has been a lot going on during the past couple days. I have to clean the living room, too. And so does Julliette. It'll go fast since all three of us are gonna do it."

"But Dad always acts like Mom's so...I don't know....delicate."

"Well right now she's sore. He probably doesn't want her to clean and risk getting more sore."

"But then why is he making you, me, and Julliette do the cleaning? Why doesn't he help if he's so worried?"

"Like I said before, he's tired."

"Well so am I! I just played basketball for an hour and a half. Now I gotta do my homework, and that tires me out, too!"

"How much did you get?"

"Some math worksheet, an assignment to read chapters three and four of a stupid book, a social studies worksheet, and an art paper. I hate art."

"I think art's pretty fun. What do you have to do?"

"Draw a landscape. But thankfully, that's not due until next Wednesday, so I don't have to start it today."

"Ooooh, that sounds like it would be a blast! I wish I were in your art class."

"Could you draw the picture for me?" Troy Jr. asked eagerly.

"Troy, that would be cheating."

"But you're my sister-and one of my closest friends. Please, it would be a huge favor. And I would pay you back in any way you wanted me to."

"Well my answer is still no. I wouldn't be a good friend if I helped you to cheat. If Mom and Dad found out, they would be furious! You need to do it yourself."

"Am I the only one who's gonna clean?" came Julliette's voice from downstairs.

"No," Brie called in response. "Troy and I are coming."

"But I gotta do my homework," Troy Jr. reminded his sister.

"Well I guess Julliette just started cleaning. We'd better go help her. You can do your homework later," Brie said.

Troy Jr. held in a groan. "Alright."

* * *

The kids had all gone to bed. Gabriella was sitting down in the bathtub relaxing, a mixture of hot water and bubbles up to her neck. "Do you think our son hates me?" she wondered.

Troy, who was leaning over the edge of the tub and playing with Gabriella's wet curls, replied, "I don't think he hates you, honey; he's just being stubborn."

"But he seemed to not care that I just got out of the hospital. All he was concerned about was going to Jake's house for dinner. I don't know what's happening. I mean, I guess he's growing up and wants more freedom, but I was still kind of hurt by his actions this afternoon."

"I went through this when I ws his age. I loved my parents, but I thought 'cool guys' didn't love anyone. So I ignored both my mom and my dad, got smart with them, refused to listen, and always wanted to go to Chad's house. But then my dad had a talk with me about the way I was acting and how it was wrong. I thought about it for a little while, then decided my dad was right and that I was acting like a jerk. So I stopped with the bad attitude and started being nicer."

"You really think he's just trying to be cool?"

Troy nodded. "Yeah. If you want, I can say something to him about it."

"Do you think you should? It's up to you."

Troy nodded. "Maybe I'd better. Now how's your bath?"

Gabriella smiled. "Good."

"I'm glad to hear that. Do you want me to wash you up?"

"Sure," Gabriella answered. Then, she reached over, grabbed the soap that was resting on the side of the tub, and gave it to Troy. "Here you go."

"Thanks." Troy took the soap, got some on his hands, then began sliding them across his wife's skin. "How does this feel?"

Gabriella, even more relaxed than she was before, closed her eyes. "Great," she murmured.

"I'm glad I decided to spoil you today, aren't you?"

"Of course."

Troy finished soaping Gabriella up, then let her rinse herself off. He then washed her hair. After she got out all the shampoo and conditioner, he walked to the bathroom closet and selected a towel.

"I have to get out?"

"Baby girl, you've been in there for two hours."

"That much time passed?"

"Yeah."

Gabriella stood up and stepped out of the tub. "I'm freezing," she whimpered.

"It's okay," Troy spoke soothingly as he began to dry his wife off. "I'll make it all better."

Gabriella smiled lightly.

Troy, after finishing up drying Gabriella off, went to the closet again and grabbed a large, thick, towel.

"What are you doing?" Gabriella wondered. "You already have a towel for me."

"But it's wet from drying you off. I'm getting a new one." While speaking, Troy walked back over to Gabriella, wrapped the towel that was in his hand around her both modestly and securely, then lifted her off the floor and into his arms. As he did so, he felt her petite body shaking. "Poor baby; you're shivering."

Gabriella, getting comfortable, wrapped her arms around Troy's neck, laid her cheek on his shoulder, snuggled into him, and closed her eyes. "Mmmm, you're so warm." After a pause, she suddenly added, "Thanks for staying in here while I was having my bath. I really enjoyed the company."

"It was no problem," Troy assured her. "Now let's go in our room so I can give you a massage. Unless you're too sleepy, that is."

"I'm not too sleepy."

"Alright." Kissing her nose with affection, Troy went over to the door that was shutting them in the room, opened it, then began walking down the hallway.

"Mommy? Daddy?" Julliette questioned, walking out of her bedroom.

"I thought you would be asleep by now," Troy told his daughter.

"I couldn't sleep. I kept hearing you talking in the bathroom. What were you doing? And why are you holding Mommy?"

"I was giving Mommy a bath," Troy informed Julliette. "And I'm holding her because she was really cold."

"Isn't she old enough to take her own baths?"

"Yeah, but she likes someone to talk to while she's taking them."

"Doesn't she get mad when you come in with her, though? Because she told me that if I ever came in the bathroom while she was in there, she would be mad and I would get in trouble."

"I know, I did tell you that," Gabriella agreed. "And you're to continue to follow that rule. But I let Daddy be in with me because.......well......." She stopped, not being able to think of an explanation acceptable for Julliette to hear.

"It has something to do with how I love her. Just like I give her yucky kisses and do 'Mommy and Daddy stuff' with her, I also go in the bathroom while she's in there."

"Oh," was Julliette's response.

"Now go back to bed," Gabriella instructed gently.

Julliette listened to her mother.

"She's full of questions," Troy commented as he continued walking to the master bedroom. When he reached it, he walked inside, laid Gabriella on the bed, then shut the door.

"Wildcat, you left me to shiver," Gabriella pouted playfully.

Troy rushed back over to Gabriella, scooped her up in his arms, and kissed her cheek. "I'm sorry, baby."

"It's fine. Now are you gonna give me my massage?"

"Of course." Troy sat down, put Gabriella in his lap, and began gently rubbing and kissing her bare shoulders. "Your skin is so soft-and beautiful."

Gabriella giggled a little. "Of course you think that; I'm your wife."

"I love you."

"I love you, too."

Then, Troy and Gabriella both hugged each other tightly and shared a passionate kiss which only took a minute, but seemed to last for several hours.

"Why after over ten years of being together does kissing you still feel amazing?" Troy asked Gabriella, a smile on his face.

"I don't know, but your kisses still feel amazing, too."

"Want more?"

"Do you really have to ask, Wildcat?"

"Yes."

Gabriella didn't respond with words. Instead, she pressed her lips against Troy's and began kissing him again.


	3. Argument

Two weeks had gone by. Troy and Gabriella were both working again, Troy Jr. was doing way above his level in basketball, and Brie had gotten her part in the Nutcracker. Well, actually she had two parts-she was in Dolls and Soldiers and Tea.

"Nikki, can you please put away your phone and pay attention? The bell just rang; we need to start our lesson," Gabriella requested in the kindest tone. She had just begun teaching her geometry class for the day, and already, the head cheerleader-Nikki Black-wasn't listening.

"I like, have to call my boyfriend, duh," Nikki told Gabriella with an attitude as she began pressing buttons on her shiny pink iphone.

"Well if you can't put it away, I'm gonna have to take it from you," Gabriella firmly informed her student.

"Wow, you are so dumb. I have three phones. Taking one away won't make any difference."

Gabriella sighed and took Nikki's phone out of her hand gently. "You can see me later if you would like to have this returned."

"Mrs. Bolton, can I go to the bathroom?" asked a girl who was sitting near the back of the room.

"Okay. Just try to be quick."

The girl got up from her seat and left the room.

Nikki pulled another phone out of her hot pink book bag and turned it on. "Oh my gosh, I have so many missed calls. I can't believe how popular I am!"

Gabriella took away the phone.

"I still have one more left," Nikki bragged. After a pause she remembered, "Oh, wait. My third one's in my chemis- try class....I NEED ONE OF MY PHONES BACK!"

Just then, Troy walked into the class.

"Wildcat, why are you in here?" Gabriella questioned, confused.

"Hey, Coach Bolton," a boy greeted. After a moment of thinking he asked Gabriella, "Are you related to him? You both have the same last name."

"No, we're married," Gabriella replied in a nonchalant tone.

"Hey, Mike," Troy said to the boy. "How are you liking basketball so far this year?"

"I love it!" Mike exclaimed. "And how can you be married and not related? Hmm, I'll have to look into that and find out."

"I'm back," the girl who had gone to the bathroom a minute ago announced as she walked through the doorway and over to her desk.

"Alright, great. Well let's get started now," Gabriella called. "Today we're going to be learning how to find the perimeter, area, and circumference of a circle. Does any-" She broke off as she felt her husband's arms wrap around her from behind. "Troy! Not now!"

"Why not?" Troy whispered in Gabriella's ear as he gently kissed the skin right below it. "You look like you need some affection."

Gabriella pushed Troy lightly. "I don't want any hugs right now; I'm teaching."

"Yes, you do want hugs," Troy disagreed playfully.

The students in the class started laughing.

"Troy, go away!" Gabriella instructed quietly but sternly. "You're being disruptive!"

Troy immediately let go of his wife and left the room, hurt. Gabriella had never, ever in her life said no to his affec-

tion; she had always welcomed and returned it. _Is she bored of me?_ he wondered silently.

* * *

"Troy, I need to talk to you," Gabriella told her husband sternly as she sat down on the sofa in the living room.

"About what?" Troy wondered as he seated himself next to Gabriella and put one of his arms around her.

"Don't try to be all affectionate," Gabriella demanded, pulling away. "Because I'm really mad at you right now and I want you to know why."

"Why?"

"Because you came into the class I was teaching, started hugging and kissing me, and my students thought it was funny. When I asked you to stop, you didn't. Now the whole school is gonna be talking about this incident until the day I retire."

"Gabby, baby, calm down."

"Don't you realize how serious this is? I could get fired for not doing my proper work because you can't get your hands off me."

"It's just that I love you so very much, and I want to hold you every second of the day, and-"

"If you really love me, then why did you interrupt my class?"

"So you're saying I don't love you?" Troy asked.

"Yeah."

At that moment, Brie walked through the front door. Just like what had become common lately, she was alone since Troy Jr. had basketball practice and was coming home on the late bus.

"I DO SO LOVE YOU!"

"WELL RIGHT NOW I'M DOUBTING IT. HIGHLY. AND IF YOU THINK I'M KIDDING, THEN I'LL PROVE I'M NOT. I'LL GO DOWN TO THE COURTHOUSE NOW AND GET DIVORCE PAPERS SO I CAN FILE FOR A DIVORCE. I DON'T NEED AN IDIOT FOR A HUSBAND. I HATE YOU."

"SO YOU DON'T LOVE ME?" Troy questioned angrily.

"I do.....well, I did," came Gabriella's quiet response.

"YOU DON'T LOVE ME?"

Gabriella burst into tears.

"Stop crying."

Brie couldn't bring herself to listen to the argument anymore. Dashing upstairs, she ran into her room and shut the door. However, her parents angry voices could still be heard.

"I-I D-DON'T HAVE T-TO!"

"YES YOU DO!"

* * *

"Brie," Julliette, who had just gotten home from school, began as she wandered through the doorway of her older sister's bedroom.

"Yeah?" Brie acknowleded.

"No one came to the bus stop to walk home with me today. And when I came inside, Mommy and Daddy were yelling at each other. When they saw me, they stopped. Now I'm wondering why they were were doing that. Don't they love each other anymore?"

_Don't they love each other anymore?_ The words echoed miserably in Brie's mind. She thought back to when she had heard her parents arguing. Her mother had said something about not loving her father. Was she serious? Or were those words just spoken out of anger?

"Brie, did you hear me?" Julliette wondered.

"Um, yeah......um......I'm sure Mommy and Daddy still love each other. They're probably just upset about something. Don't worry."

"Okay. Well I gotta do my homework." With that, Julliette ran out of the room.

* * *

"Troy, is that you?" Brie wondered while walking out of her bedroom.

"Yeah, it's me," Troy Jr. replied, walking over to his sister. "I just got back from practice."

"I want to tell you something. It's about Mom and Dad."

"Oh, is it something to do with the stupid way they're acting? When I came in the door, Dad was in the living room watching TV. He didn't even say anything to me. Then I went into the kitchen to get a drink. Mom was in there making dinner and she yelled at me. Apparantly I was in her way."

"Well the thing I was gonna tell you will let you know why they're acting like they are."

"Keep talking."

"They're in a fight with each other. When I came home from school, they were sitting on the sofa fighting with each other. Since neither of them heard me come in the house, I stayed and listened for a minute. And Mom said something to Dad that I never thought I would hear her say."

"What?"

Brie began to cry. "S-She said she's g-gonna file for a-a divorce."

"Yes!" Troy Jr. shouted happily. "When is she getting it? Please tell me it'll be soon. Please!"

"W-Why are you h-happy?"

"I'll get to live alone with Dad. That'll be so cool! We'll do nothing but play basketball!"

"F-First of all, you don't e-even know if you w-would get to live alone w-with Dad. M-Maybe Mom would get the r-right to keep you, me, a-and Julliette. Or m-maybe Dad would get t-to keep us all. Or...we c-could all be seperated, m-meaning y-you might have to live a-alone with Mom. A-And secondly, t-this is horrible! Y-You don't understand!"

Troy Jr. ignored everything his sister had just said. "I'm gonna ask Dad if him and I will be the ones moving out or if it will be you, Julliette, and Mom. And if it's Dad and I, I'm gonna start packing." He then raced to the staircase and descended it. Entering the living room, he asked, "Dad, when you and Mom get divorced, will we be moving out?"

"What? We're not getting divorced." Troy sounded surprised.

"But Brie told me that Mom said she was gonna file for a divorce."

"Troy, me and her are just in a little disagreement now. There will be no divorce. We're gonna get the problem all worked out. Don't worry."

"No divorce?"

"No, no divorce."

"Aw. Come on!"

"You _wanted_ us to get divorced?"

"Of course. You know I hate Mom. I would love to live in a house with just you! We could play basketball all day and night! It would be great!"

"Just to let you know, I wouldn't play basketball all day and night. And also, since when did you hate Mom?"

"Since the second I was born. And just to let you know, I'm going to Jake's house."

"Now?"

Troy Jr. nodded. "Yeah. I'll see you in a few hours."

"You know, you didn't even ask if you could go," Troy pointed out. "You just told me you were going. Now is that what you're supposed to do?"

Troy Jr. rolled his eyes. "No. But can I please go?"

"After dinner, okay? And only for a little bit."

"Alright." Sighing, Troy Jr. left the room.

* * *

It was ten o' clock at night. Troy and Gabriella were lying in their bed, making sure to stay far away from each other as best they could.

Gabriella groaned. "Troy! You're hogging the blanket!"

"Sor-ry," Troy said sarcastically.

"Don't you know by now that I get cold easily? I'm freezing right now!"

"Then wear your winter coat! I would like you to get out of my shirt, anyway."

Gabriella, for the first time, realized that she shouldn't have followed her usual habit of taking off the outfit she had worn for the day and just throwing on one of Troy's t-shirts before climbing in bed. "Leave the room," she instructed.

"Why?" Troy demanded.

"I'm gonna get changed so you can have your shirt back."

"But I'm always in here when you get changed. We take showers together almost every morning. I just gave you a bath a couple weeks ago. We have three kids and it would be about five thousand and three if you weren't on birth control."

"Yeah, so?"

"So why does it matter if I'm in here?"

"Just GET OUT!"

"NO! This is my room, too. If you want your 'unnecessary privacy', go in the bathroom!"

"What? My privacy is not unnecessary!"

"It is so! Think about it! There's no use trying to have privacy if I've already seen-and touched-every inch of your body! This New Years' Eve is our fourteenth anniversary! So you haven't had privacy for around me for almost FOURTEEN YEARS! Wait-we lived together after we got engaged, too. So it's been a little over fourteen years! I don't know what's wrong with you! Are you pregnant or something and don't want me to notice?"

"I think you would notice even if I didn't change around you!"

"Well if you're not pregnant, something must be wrong. What is it?"

"Nothing! Nothing's wrong! I just want privacy for now!"

"Did you get a rash, a huge cut, anything?" Troy went on. "If you did, you know that I need to see it so I can try to make it feel better."

"Troy! If I had any kind of problem like that, I would go to the doctor, not let you exam me! You don't know anything about medical stuff!"

"Let me see." Troy rolled over so he was close to Gabriella, then started to lift her shirt-well, actually it was his shirt-up.

Gabriella smacked Troy's hand. "STOP IT! GET OUT OF HERE, YOU IDIOT!"

"WHY? YOU'RE ACTING LIKE I'M SOME DANGEROUS STRANGER! I WAS JUST TRYING TO SEE WHAT'S WRONG!"

"NOTHING'S WRONG! AND DON'T TRY TO UNDRESS ME EVER AGAIN!" With that, Gabriella jumped out of bed, stomped over to the clothes closet, pulled a tank top and shorts from it, then left the room to go get changed. A minute later, she returned.

"I'm surprised you came back," Troy commented.

"Haha, you're so funny," Gabriella spoke in a smart tone. "And here's your shirt." She threw the red Wildcats shirt she previously had been wearing at Troy.

"Well don't throw it at me!"

Gabriella sat on the edge of the bed, grabbed her pillow, and began hitting Troy with it. "YOU STUPID IDIOT! DO NOT TELL ME WHAT I CAN OR CANNOT DO!"

"Ow! Gabriella, that hurts!" Troy exclaimed in pain. "Stop! Please! Ow!"

"Do I have to listen to you?" Gabriella questioned as she continued smacking Troy.

Troy ripped the pillow out of his wife's hands and threw it across the room. "There. It's gone. You can't hit me anymore. Now get under the covers and go to sleep."

"Alright. Fine. I'll go to sleep," Gabriella sighed as she crawled under the thick comforter. "I need my pillow. Go get it."

"Why should I?"

"You were the one who threw it!"

Groaning, Troy got up, went over to Gabriella's pillow, took it from the floor, then brought it over to her. He then crawled back into bed.

Gabriella put the pillow behind her, then rested her head on it. "I need more of the blanket."

Troy moved closer to Gabriella and kissed her cheek as he wrapped one of his arms around her. "What about this? Does this work alright for you?"

Though Gabriella loved snuggling with Troy and was very comfy in her current position, she didn't want to admit it; it would make her seem like she had given up the fight. So she pushed Troy away from her. "Stay on your own side of the bed. I said I wanted the blanket; not you. So no, it doesn't work alright."

"But we always snuggle at night," Troy protested as he reluctantly obeyed Gabriella's command. It would be useless to continue to do something that was irritating her.

"I know, but things have to change sometime."

"Why? Don't you love it when I hold you close to me? Don't you love those gentle kisses I press onto your cheeks as you close your beautiful eyes and fall asleep?"

"I used to."

"Gabriella, I don't know why you're doing all this, but it's really breaking my heart. I love you so much, and now it seems like you don't love me back anymore."

For a moment, Gabriella felt sorry for her husband. But then, she pushed away the feeling and yelled, "YOU LOVE ME? AFTER ALL YOU DID YOU GO AND SAY THAT YOU LOVE ME?"

"Gabriella-"

"STOP TALKING TO ME. LEAVE THIS ROOM NOW."

"ARE YOU ORDERING ME AROUND?"

"YES! OF COURSE I AM!"

At that moment, a soft knock was heard at the bedroom door. "Mom, Dad, I can't sleep with all this yelling." It was Troy Jr.

"Well blame your mother," Troy told his son. "She's the one who started it!"

"I did not!" Gabriella argued. "You did! You were interruping my geometry class today!"

"YES YOU DID!"

"Can I come in?" Troy Jr. questioned.

"Alright," Troy answered.

Troy opened the door and stepped into his parents' room. "Could I go to Jake's house for the night? I mean, I'm not getting any rest here."

"Who's been yelling?" Brie's sleepy voice came from the hallway.

"Mom and Dad," Troy Jr. answered.

Brie walked over to her brother. "Mom, Dad, are you still fighting?"

"Yes, and it's your father's fault," Gabriella replied.

"Mommy and Daddy are still arguing? I thought they stopped a long time ago," Julliette said as she joined her sib-lings.

"So you woke up, too. Nice. Now we're all awake," Troy Jr. complained. "Thanks to my stupid idiot mom."

"It was your father who made this happen!" Gabriella corrected. "I didn't do anything!"

"Can I go to Jake's?" Troy Jr. repeated the question he had asked a couple moments ago.

"It's almost ten-thirty."

"Come on, Mom! You and Dad are acting all stupid. I don't want to stay here. I want to be able to sleep in peace and quiet!"

"So do I," Brie agreed.

"Me, too," Julliette added.

"You know what, Troy. Go ahead; go to Jake's. Just make sure you call first. This fight isn't your fault at all, so you shouldn't have to suffer from it. Brie, you may go call Abbie and see if you can go over there if you like. And Julliette, you're a little young to go out anywhere this late. You'll need to stay at home, but you can sleep downstairs on the sofa if you want," said Troy.

"Okay," was the response from the kids as they left the room.

"Just make sure you still go to school tomorrow," Troy called.

"TROY! WHAT THE HECK?" Gabriella screamed. "I DON'T WANT MY CHILDREN WALKING AROUND OUTSIDE IN THE DARK! WHO KNOWS WHAT PEOPLE COULD BE OUT THERE!"

"Gabriella, you've got issues," Troy remarked.

"WHAT? _I'VE_ GOT ISSUES? I THINK YOU'RE THE ONE WITH THE ISSUES! WHAT KIND OF PARENT LETS THEIR ELEVEN-YEAR-OLD KIDS WALK TO A FRIEND'S HOUSE AFTER DARK!"

"They'll be fine."

Gabriella sighed. "Well when they get kidnapped, that's when you'll know that I was right and you were wrong. You think you're so smart, but in truth you have the brain of a beetle."

"GABRIELLA! DID YOU JUST INSULT ME?"

"Yes, I did."

Troy pulled the entire blanket to his side of the bed. "Well now you have to suffer the consequence for it."

"TROY! I'm gonna freeze to death! Give me some of the blanket!"

"When you're ready to come over here to me and be all full of sweetness and snuggles, then I'll let you have three quarters of it, okay? Oh, and also, I need my good night kiss. I didn't get it yet tonight."

"What in the world makes you think you're getting a good night kiss? After the way you treated me all today, you'll be lucky if I kiss again you before you die!"

"Baby girl, please-"

"DON'T CALL ME THAT!"

* * *

Troy Jr. rang the doorbell belonging to Jake's house as he laughed quietly to himself about how stupid he must ap-

pear. He was standing on the porch wearing pajamas and sneakers. Under his arm was a basketball print sleeping bag and a matching pillow.

Jake's father, Greg, answered the door. "Hi, Troy, come in," he greeted.

Troy Jr. walked inside. "Where's Jake at?"

"In his room playing a video game. You can go ahead up there."

"Okay." Troy went upstairs and into his friend's bedroom. "Hey, Jake, what's up?"

Jake paused his game, then turned his dark brown eyes toward Troy Jr. "I've just been playing a game while waiting for you to get here. When my dad told me you called and asked to spend the night, I was surprised. Lately, your parents haven't been letting you come here."

"Well they're in a fight," Troy Jr. explained. "So they weren't thinking clearly tonight."

"And let me guess, you couldn't sleep with them screaming ay each other?"

Troy Jr. nodded.

"Yeah, I know how it is. My parents have a fight at least three times a month. And it's usually about stupid things, too. Once, my mom got mad at my dad because he forgot to turn the TV off when he was done watching it. Another time, my mom told Haylee that she couldn't go outside and play, and my dad got mad because he thought she should be able to. That was the biggest argument EVER." Haylee was Jake's five-year-old sister.

"Well my parents are mad at each other because this afternoon, my dad interrupted the class my mom was teaching at the high school. I guess he did other things that made her mad, too. I don't know. The whole thing is kind of confus-ing."

"Parents are confusing. I don't see why they do what they do half the time."

"Me, neither," Troy Jr. agreed.

* * *

"Hi, Brie," Abbie, who was in pink pajama pants and a t-shirt, greeted as she opened the front door of her house.

"Hi," Brie returned as she walked through the doorway holding her ballet-themed sleeping bag. "Are you sure your parents are okay with me sleeping over?"

"Yeah. They said it was when you called, didn't they?"

Brie nodded.

"Let's go to my room," Abbie suggested.

"Alright," Brie agreed.

Abbie led Brie through the living room, up the stairs, and into a bedroom with pink walls that were covered with

posters of famous ballerinas and pictures from her performances.

"Where should I put my sleeping bag?" Brie wondered.

"Next to my bed is fine. Oh, did you bring an outfit to wear to school tomorrow?"

"No.....I guess I forgot."

"It's fine. You can pick something from my closet."

"I think all your stuff would be too big," Brie told her friend. Like her mother, she was petite.

"I have some things that don't fit me anymore. You can take a look at those now."

"Okay, cool. Where are they?"

"On my closet floor in a bag. There's t-shirts, jeans, skirts, tank tops, jackets, pajamas, sweat pants, dance leotards, bathing suits-"

"I think you listed enough stuff."

"Sorry. I'm hyper now," Abbie apologized. "And you know when I'm hyper, I start babbling on and on."

"Yeah. But it's fine. I'll go look for something I like." Brie wandered over to her friend's closet and opened the sliding door. She immediately saw the clothing bag. Kneeling down, she started looking though it.

"See anything good?" Abbie asked.

"Yeah," Brie replied. She then showed her friend a bright purple t-shirt and a pair of dark wash flare leg jeans. "I think these look good together."

"Oh my gosh! That looks so awesome!"

* * *

"TROY! STOP TRYING TO CUDDLE ME!" Gabriella yelled as she felt her husband's arms wrap around her from behind.

"Why not?" Troy questioned in a very sleepy voice. "I can't sleep if I'm not holding you."

Gabriella sighed.

"Mommy, Daddy, I can still hear you fighting!" Julliette called from downstairs. She had followed her father's suggestion of trying to sleep in the living room.

"Sorry!" Gabriella apologized. Then, to Troy, she angrily whispered, "Don't yell anymore."

Troy didn't respond.

"Are you-" Gabriella began before noticing that Troy was fast asleep. _Oh great,_ she thought. _Now I'm stuck in his arms until he wakes up. This is gonna be a long night._


	4. Thunder

"I'm getting the bathroom first," Gabriella announced at six the next morning, right after the alarm clock had woken both her and Troy up.

"For what?" Troy wondered.

"A shower," Gabriella responded. "I need to be ready to leave for East High when I have to. And just to let you know, the reason I'm saying 'I' and not 'we' is because I'm driving there by myself-in your car-since it's the only car we have at the house right now." Because of the accident Gabriella had been in, her car was at the repair shop and wouldn't be ready to use for about another week.

"I wanna come take a shower, too. And since the car's mine, I'm gonna use it. You can ride with me. Like you always do."

"No, you are not having a shower with me. I know we take them together almost every morning, but that's going to change-starting today." Gabriella walked over to the closet and took the clothes she wanted to wear for the day out of it.

"Will it change forever?"

Gabriella nodded as she walked to the door of the room. "Now when I'm in the bathroom, I'll be locking the door, so don't even try anything. It won't be worth it."

Troy sighed as he watched his wife leave the room. He loved getting a shower with her each morning. It was wonderful to be able to talk for a little, help her wash up, press gentle kisses all over her wet body. _Well at least I get extra time to sleep,_ he thought as he closed his eyes. _Gabby won't be done in the bathroom for at least twenty minutes, and I can't do anything until she gets out of there. Though this is the second time she said something was changing....I'm not happy about that at all._

* * *

"Mommy?" Julliette began as she walked into the kitchen, where her mother was getting a bowl of cereal for herself.

"Yeah?" Gabriella said.

"Can you help me put my hair in a ponytail?"

Gabriella turned to look at her daughter. Seeing she was still in her pajamas, she informed her, "You're gonna need to get dressed first."

"Okay!" Julliette then dashed out of the room and upstairs.

"Hey! That's my bowl!" Troy exclaimed as he walked over to his wife. "You can't use it!"

"Since when were you down here?" Gabriella questioned in an annoyed tone.

"Since now," Troy replied. He then grabbed the bowl of cereal away from Gabriella.

"TROY!" Gabriella screamed. "This is NOT your bowl! WE got it for a wedding present! It's OUR bowl! And I'm using it now! So give it back!"

"But it was from Zeke. And Zeke's my friend-not yours."

"Yeah, but he's married to Sharpay and she's my friend-not yours. So there."

"But this bowl was only from him! He wasn't married yet! Know your facts!"

"Get out of here," Gabriella ordered. "I don't want to look at your hideous face right now."

"Mommy, Daddy, stop it!"

Gabriella looked at the entrance to the kitchen and saw Julliette standing there holding a ponytail holder in her hand. "I'm sorry," she apologized to her. "I'm just a little annoyed with Daddy right now. Are you ready for me to do your hair?"

Julliette nodded.

"Alright, well then let's go upstairs to your room."

"Okay." Julliette started walking in the direction of the staircase, her mother following.

_A little annoyed?_ Troy thought to himself. _I think that's an understatement. She's more like furious! I've never seen her this angry in my entire life!_

* * *

_Ding Dong!_

"Is that Grandma at the door?" Julliette wondered.

"Probably," Gabriella replied as she walked over to the front door and opened it. Since Troy and Gabriella had to go to work before Julliette's bus arrived, Troy's mom came over every school morning to keep an eye on her granddaughter.

"Hi," Lucille greeted.

"Hi, you can come in," Gabriella said pleasantly.

Lucille entered the house.

Gabriella shut the front door, then told Julliette, "Daddy and I need to leave now, alright?"

"Okay," Julliette acknowledged.

"Are Troy and Brie not here?" Lucille questioned. Usually, her two oldest grandchildren were still at the house for about forty-five minutes after she arrived there.

"No, they're not here," Gabriella began. "They stayed overnight at their friends' houses last night."

"Oh. Are they still going to school today, though?"

Gabriella nodded. "They're just getting on the bus at different bus stops."

"Gabriella, where are my car keys?" Troy demanded as he walked into the room. "I can't find them anywhere."

"I don't know," Gabriella spoke. "But I've gotta get to work. See you later." She opened the door to leave.

"YOU TOOK THEM!" Troy accused.

Gabriella opened the purse she had dangling from her arm and pulled out a key ring with Troy's car keys on them. "Yup, I did. I need them more than you."

"But, I need to get to work."

Gabriella stepped outside, slamming the door behind her.

"What's happening with you and Gabriella?" Lucille asked her son. "Usually when I come here, you two are getting along more than perfectly. Now all of a sudden you're fighting."

"Yeah, we had a disagreement yesterday and we're still trying to get over it."

"Oh. Well don't worry; that happens to everyone. Would you like to take my car to work? I could just stay here for the day and then go home when you get back."

"Sure. Thanks, Mom," Troy answered.

* * *

"Dad, look! You know how our neighbors had their house for sale?" Troy Jr. said as he looked out the living room window.

"Yeah," Troy responded.

"Well now the sign that said it was for sale says it's sold and there's a moving truck in the driveway. I think they're moving out now!"

"Let me see."

Troy Jr. moved away from the window, allowing his father to glance out of it. "Wow, it does look like they're moving. Hm, that was quick; I thought it would take more than a couple weeks for the house to sell."

"I guess it didn't."

"Well, yeah. Obviously." Then, changing the subject, Troy told his son, "The Warriors pre-season game is on. Wanna watch it with me?" The pre-season basketball games were practice games that were shown on TV.

"Of course," Troy Jr. replied. "Why wouldn't I?"

Troy walked away from the window and over to the sofa. Sitting down, he grabbed the remote and pressed the power button. He then pressed the number three. The channel changed. "Let's go Warriors!" Troy yelled.

"Dad, a commercial is on now," Troy Jr. pointed out, seeing that on the screen there was a lady eating a bar of Hershey's chocolate.

"I know; I'm just excited."

Just then, the commercial ended and the game began. The Warriors received the ball first, instead of their opponents-the Lakers.

"GO WARRIORS!" Troy Jr. screamed.

"Come on, Chad!" Troy encouraged, even though his friend couldn't hear him through the TV screen. "Come on, pass the ball! Pass it! Yes!"

"What's all the shouting in here?" Brie wondered as she entered the room. Then, she caught sight of what was on TV. "Oh. That's what all this noise is about."

All of sudden, a clap of thunder was heard along with beating rain. The electricity shut off. "Darn! Now I can't watch the game!" Troy complained.

"I didn't even know it was supposed to thunder," Troy Jr. commented. "Hopefully the power will be back on before it gets dark outside. If it's not, then I'm going to Jake's house."

"Not in this rain, you won't."

"Daddy! Why is the light in my room not working?" Julliette called from upstairs.

"The thunder made the electricity go out," Troy informed his youngest daughter.

"Oh."

"Where's Mom?" wondered Brie.

_Oh no!_ A sudden rush of dread came over Troy. He had totally forgotten about his wife! _She's terrified of thunder! I'd better go find her now._ As another boom of thunder sounded, Troy hurried upstairs and into the master bedroom, where he saw Gabriella sitting on the floor crying. "Poor baby," he murmured as he went up to her and took her in his arms.

Gabriella clung to Troy tightly. "I-I'm s-so s-scared," she sobbed.

"I'm here. I'm here," Troy soothed, beginning to rub Gabriella's back. "You're safe. I promise. You're totally safe."

"I-I'm s-sorry I-I w-was s-so m-mean t-to y-you-"

"It's okay. Don't worry about that. I'm not mad. The whole argument was my fault, anyway. I shouldn't have interrupted your geometry class." Troy kissed Gabriella's head. "And remember-no matter what happens, I'll always love you and be here for you."

Gabriella snuggled into Troy and let her chin rest on his shoulder. "I-I l-love y-you, t-too."

"My precious baby," Troy whispered.

"K-Kiss m-me. P-Please," Gabriella cried as she lifted her head and looked pleading at Troy through her tear-filled eyes.

Troy, more than willingly, pressed his lips onto Gabriella's. "I love you," he mumbled through the kiss.

"L-Love y-you," Gabriella returned.

Once they were finished kissing, Troy still held Gabriella, who leaned her head against his chest. As he did so, he ran his fingers through her perfect curls and wiped some tears off her face.

Gabriella closed her eyes, savoring the feelings of warmth and comfort that Troy was giving her.

_BOOM!_ The loudest clap of thunder yet sounded.

Gabriella whimpered and clung to Troy even tighter.

"I'm here, I'm here," Troy comforted. "Everything will be okay. Do you want to get on the bed and snuggle under the covers?"

Gabriella nodded.

Troy stood up with Gabriella still in his arms, walked over to the bed, and climbed in. "Are you comfy?"

"M-hm," came Gabriella's response.

"I love you," Troy whispered as he kissed his wife's nose. "More than anything in the world."

"Love you, too," Gabriella whispered back, cheering up a bit. "And I want to thank you for making me feel better. I have been acting like Troy-our son Troy, not you-since yesterday afternoon, so I really don't deserve your comfort. At all."

"Of course you do! When we got married, I one of the things I promised was to take care of you and love you. And that stuff can't depend on whether or not you're mad at me."

"You're the best husband I could ask for, Wildcat."

At that moment, the electricity came back on.

"DAD!" Troy Jr. yelled. "THE TV'S WORKING!!!"

"Well I'm busy now," Troy called.

* * *

"Tonight I want you to get Troy or Brie if there's a problem," Gabriella told her youngest daughter at bedtime.

"Why? Are you gonna do 'Mommy and Daddy stuff?'" Julliette wondered.

"Yes," Gabriella answered.

Troy Jr., who was standing in the hallway with his twin sister and father, overheard the small conversation. And he knew exactly what his mother meant by 'Mommy and Daddy stuff.' "Ew, Dad!" he exclaimed. "You're really gonna do 'it' with Mom?"

"Yeah," was Troy's response.

"That's nasty! I don't know how you can stand it!"

"When you find a girl you really love, then you'll understand."

"Yeah, I'll understand that it's disgusting."

"Troy, stop it!" Brie scolded.

"Why?" Troy Jr. questioned.

"Because I don't want to hear you talking about this all night."

* * *

"Troy, could we sing?" Gabriella requested sweetly. It was ten o' clock at night. Troy and Gabriella were cuddled up

together on the sofa; they had just finished watching a movie.

"Of course. I'll always be more than happy to sing with you," Troy answered. "What song did you have in mind?"

"This one," Gabriella responded. She then began singing:

_Take my hand, take a breath  
Pull me close and take one step  
Keep your eyes locked on mine,  
And let the music be your guide._

At this part of the song, Troy joined in:

_Won't you promise me (now won't you promise me, that you'll never forget)  
__We'll keep dancing (to keep dancing) wherever we go next  
It's like catching lightning the chances of finding someone like you  
It's one in a million, the chances of feeling the way we do  
And with every step together, we just keep on getting better_

So can I have this dance (can I have this dance)  
Can I have this dance

_Take my hand, I'll take the leadAnd every turn will be safe with me  
Don't be afraid, afraid to fall  
You know I'll catch you threw it all_

_And you can't keep us apart (even a thousand miles, can't keep us apart)  
'Cause my heart is (cause my heart is) wherever you are  
It's like catching lightning the chances of finding someone like you  
It's one in a million, the chances of feeling the way we do  
And with every step together, we just keep on getting better  
_

_So can I have this dance (can I have this dance)  
Can I have this dance_

_Oh no mountains too high enough, oceans too wide  
'Cause together or not, our dance won't stopLet it rain, let it pour  
What we have is worth fighting for  
You know I believe, that we were meant to be  
_

_It's like catching lightning the chances of finding someone like you (like you)  
It's one in a million, the chances of feeling the way we do (way we do)  
And with every step together, we just keep on getting better  
So can I have this dance (can I have this dance)  
__Can I have this dance_

_Can I have this dance  
Can I have this dance_

After singing the last note, Troy let his lips slide onto Gabriella's in a passionate kiss.

Gabriella returned the affection as she smiled and let out a soft giggle.

"Come on; let's go."

"Where?"

"To have fun in our room." With that, Troy stood up, then took his wife's hands and assisted her in doing the same. Once she was on her feet, he lifted her into his arms and carried her upstairs.

"Wildcat!" Gabriella exclaimed.

Troy smiled and walked into the master bedroom, shutting and locking the door behind him. He then laid Gabriella on the bed. "You ready?"

Gabriella nodded.

* * *

"That was amazing," Gabriella breathed. An hour had passed. Both her and Troy were under the bed covers, happy after the long love-making session they had just had.

"I know," Troy agreed as he kissed his wife's cheek.

"I would ask you if you wanted to grab a shower with me now, but it's a little after eleven o' clock, and we need to sleep so we can get up on time for work tomorrow."

"Yeah. We can get one in the morning, though."

"Though just remember we need to get dressed before we leave the room."

"Yeah. And then we just go in the bathroom and get undressed again. But I guess that's the way things work when you have kids."

Gabriella giggled and snuggled close to Troy. "I'm cold."

"So you're stealing some heat from me?" Troy asked, pretending to be angry as he pressed his lips onto Gabriella's bare shoulder.

Gabriella smiled and nodded. "Yeah. Why not? You're so warm."

"I'm glad you think that. And just to let you know, you're free to get some warmth off of me whenever you like. I know how easily you freeze, and shivering is no fun," Troy said as he pulled the blanket up further so that Gabriella was completely covered from the chin down.

"Thanks."

"You're welcome. Now let's try to get some rest. I love you."

"Love you, too," Gabriella returned.

After kissing good night, Troy and Gabriella both fell into a deep sleep.


	5. Samantha Andrews

Friday passed quickly and Saturday arrived. Busy, busy Saturday. Brie had a Nutcracker rehearsal all morning-from nine to quarter after eleven to be exact-Julliette was going over to James' house, Troy Jr. was getting together with Jake and a couple other guys from his basketball team that he had made friends with to play two-on-two, Joey was coming over to the Bolton house for Gabriella to baby-sit, and Troy had plans to start cleaning out the messy garage so that one of the cars could actually be parked in it.

"Dad, look!" Troy Jr. exclaimed as he looked out the living room window. "People are moving into the house next door!"

Troy walked over to another window in the same room. A moving truck caught his eye. "Wow, they wasted no time moving in," he remarked. After a few minutes of watching a man, a woman, and a teenage boy carry boxes into the house, he caught sight of a girl-who looked about the age of Troy Jr. and Brie-with thick-framed glasses and long brown hair which was pulled into a slightly messy ponytail. "Oh. I see a girl that looks about your age."

"I already saw her," Troy Jr. informed his father. "And she looks like a total nerd. I can't believe I have to live next to her."

"Troy, don't talk like that. You can't judge people by their looks. And anyway, nerds can be really nice. Just because they get all 'A's in school doesn't mean they're snobby or anything. For example, your mother and her friend-Mrs. Dan-forth-were both on the nerdy side in high school."

"No wonder I hate Mom."

"I don't want to hear you say that ever again," Troy warned. "Your mother is a very sweet, loving person. And she's also sensitive. It really bothers her when you say you don't like her."

"So?"

At that moment, Gabriella pulled into the driveway. She had just gotten back from taking Brie to rehearsal. Seeing the faces of her husband and son in the living room windows, she smiled and hurried inside. "So, did you miss me that much, you had to watch for me to come home?"

"No. We're looking at the new people moving in next door," Troy Jr. replied. "And there's some ugly nerdy girl-who looks like she's my age."

"I missed you," Troy answered, moving away from the window to give his wife an affectionate embrace along with a kiss. "Though I was looking at the new neighbors, too."

Gabriella returned the kiss. "Maybe after Brie gets back and I'm done baby-sitting Joey, we can all go over there and introduce ourselves. Sound good?"

"I'm playing two-on-two today!" Troy Jr. reminded his mom.

"Don't worry; we'll do it after you get back from that. In fact, I was kind of thinking of going after dinner."

"Now the nerd girl is carrying a book into the house!" Troy Jr. reported. "And it's a thick one! Wow, that thing would take me a lifetime to get through!"

"Now Troy, listen," Troy began. "When we go next door to meet our neighbors, you are to be polite and considerate. No making fun of the girl, no pushing her around, no mean behavior-period. Do you hear me?"

Troy Jr. peeled his eyes away from the window, looked at his father, and nodded.

"Okay."

"Mommy, I'm all ready to go to James' house!" Julliette announced as she skipped down the stairs and over to where her parents were standing.

"Well you still have a little while before it's time to go," Gabriella told her daughter. "Mrs. Baylor said to come over around lunchtime. It's only nine in the morning now."

"Can't we be there early? I really really really want to play with James!"

"No, we can't. It wouldn't be good manners to come at a time we weren't invited. And you want to be a nice little girl, don't you?"

Julliette nodded.

"Alright. Well then, why don't you go play with your toys or read or something." Julliette loved to read almost as much as she liked to play.

"Okay, Mommy!"

* * *

"JAMES!" yelled Julliette, jumping out of the car and running over to the little dark-haired boy who was standing on the porch of the Baylor home. "I waited so long to come here!"

"And I waited all day for you!" James exclaimed as he excitedly hugged his friend. "I have so much planned for us to do!"

Julliette returned James' hug. "I can't wait!"

Just then, Gabriella caught up with her daughter. "Next time, please wait for me," she instructed as she rang the doorbell that was on the frame of the fancy screen door. Sharpay was rich. So when she had married Zeke, they were able to afford a large, elegant home.

"Hi, Gabriella," Sharpay greeted as she opened the door. "You can come in." Then, to her son, she said, "James, why don't you and Julliette come in, too?"

"Okay." James grabbed Julliette's hand and pulled her through the doorway, pushing Gabriella in the process.

"James! Don't push!" Sharpay scolded as Gabriella walked inside. "Now you need to apologize to Mrs. Bolton."

"Sorry, Mrs. Bolton," James said.

"It's okay," Gabriella responded. Then, moving her attention to Sharpay, she told her, "Congratulations on being pregnant again."

"How'd you know about that?" Sharpay wondered.

"Julliette told me that James said to her about him having a new brother or sister coming."

"Oh. Well, yeah, I'm two months pregnant. I'm kind of hoping for a girl this time; Zeke wants another boy, though."

"Well I guess you'll have to wait a little longer to find out what it is," Gabriella commented. Then, remembering something, she added, "Julliette was asking for a baby brother or sister after finding out James was getting one."

"Do you wanna have another baby?"

"I've been seriously thinking about it. I would need to have a talk with Troy, though. I don't know how he would like another child. I mean, we have three already."

"Yeah, it's always a good idea to consult your husband. I had to find that out the hard way; I didn't do it with Zeke, and he was so surprised when I told him I was pregnant again. For a minute, he didn't even believe me! He's happy now, though. But you know, I couldn't see Troy acting that way. He seems like he'd be happy immediately-not a day later-whether you discussed it with him first or not. You know, you two are so perfect for each other."

Gabriella smiled. "Yeah, we are. I couldn't imagine being married to anyone else."

"I'm glad I didn't end up with Troy. I mean, I know I wanted him in high school, but when I realized he loved you and got rid of my crush, I noticed he was way too agreeable. I would hate that; I like being challenged."

Gabriella laughed. "Well he's not all that agreeable. I just had a huge fight with him the other day."

Sharpay gasped. " Oh my gosh! You FOUGHT with Troy? I never thought I would hear that! What happened?"

"Well he came into my geometry class while I was teaching and started hugging me. I asked him to stop because I needed to do my job. So he walked out of the room. At home, I was talking to him about why I didn't want him to do it, and he was trying to hug me while I was talking. It was like he wasn't taking me seriously. So then I got mad and we ended up arguing."

"Well I guess that just proves that even the world's cutest couple has their rough times."

"You think we're the world's cutest couple?"

"Yeah, of course. Everybody does. Ask around."

Gabriella smiled. "I never knew that before."

"Really?"

"Yeah." After a pause she added, "Oh, I'd better get going. Taylor wanted me to baby-sit Joey for her today. Sorry I couldn't stay real long."

"That's okay. But before you go, Zeke made cookies for your family. Let me quick run to the kitchen and get them." With that, Sharpay disappeared out of the room. A moment later, she returned holding a container of three dozen cookies. Handing it to Gabriella, she said, "Here you go; they're chocolate chip."

"Mmmm, yum! Could you tell Zeke thanks for me?" Gabriella asked.

"Of course; he's out at the grocery store now....buying more baking stuff. But as soon as he gets home, I'll tell him. Alright?"

"Alright. Well, I'll see you later. And I hope Julliette behaves."

"I'm sure she'll be fine. See you later!"

* * *

_Ding Dong!_ The doorbell rang.

Gabriella, who had just gotten home from picking Brie up from rehearsal, rushed to the door and opened it to reveal Taylor with Joey in her arms. "Hi," she smiled. "Come in."

Taylor walked into the house and put Joey down. "Hi, Gabriella. How are things going?"

"Good. Troy's cleaning out the garage today so we can park one of the cars in there, so I'm happy about that."

"Yeah, that's nice of him. I wish Chad would do stuff like that. Right now, he's doing his pre-season games, then after that, his season games, so he's not gonna get to come home for a while; his home stadium is in California, so even when he plays home games he's still away from home. And, when he is at the house-in off season-he just lies around."

"I feel so bad for you and Joey," Gabriella told her friend sympathetically. "I can't even imagine how bad that must be. I don't know what I would do without Troy here."

"I can't say the same about Chad because I'm without him for most of the year."

"Do you ever wish he wasn't in the NBA?"

Taylor nodded. "Yeah, at times. But I'm also happy that he got his wish."

"I can understand that."

"Alright, well I'd better get going. I'll be back around four-thirty, okay?"

"Okay."

Taylor hugged and kissed her son, said bye, then walked out the door.

Joey began crying. "Mommy! Mommy!"

"Shhh, shhh, it's alright," Gabriella comforted. "I think Daddy's playing basketball on TV now, do you want to watch him?"

Joey shook his head. "Mommy! Mommy! I want Mommy!"

"OW!" came a yell from inside the garage.

Gabriella gasped. _Troy! Oh, no, what happened?_ "BRIE!" she called loudly. "BRIE! BRIE ANNE BOLTON! COME HERE RIGHT NOW!"

"What, Mom?" Brie questioned as she hurried down the stairs and over to her mother.

"Watch Joey for a minute. Your father's hurt!" Gabriella instructed, running over to the door that led into the garage and flinging it open. What she saw was just what she had feared. Troy was sitting on the cement floor, a lot of blood appearing through the right leg of his pants. He as hurt badly. "Wildcat!" she exclaimed, rushing over to her husband.

"Gabby-" Troy began."

"What happened? No, don't answer that. You're hurt. Let me try to help you inside. You need to get that leg looked at before you lose too much blood."

"I'm fine."

"You're in pain-I can tell." Gabriella grabbed Troy's hand and tried to pull him up gently. However, it didn't work. So she abandoned the idea, knelt down, and rolled up the material of his pants, revealing a huge gash. "Poor Wildcat. Um....let me run inside and get some peroxide."

"No, baby-that'll sting terribly!" Troy protested.

"But I don't want your cut to get infected." As she spoke, Gabriella ran inside. A minute later, she appeared with two paper towels and a bottle of peroxide. "Alright, let's get this cleaned out."

Troy winced as his wife applied the liquid to his cut. "Ow."

"I know, I know. It hurts. But you'll be okay."

Troy reached out with one of his hands to stroke Gabriella's hair. "I love you."

"Love you, too," Gabriella murmured. "Now I gotta go back in and get some gauze and tape."

"Alright."

Gabriella went into the house, got the items she needed, then hurried back to Troy. After carefully wrapping his cut up, she told him, "I want you to stop cleaning the garage for the day. Come inside, lie on the sofa, and watch some basketball. Alright?"

Troy nodded as he cautiously stood up and limped inside, Gabriella following. He then did exactly what she had told him he should-he went to the sofa, laid on it, and turned the basketball game on.

Gabriella kissed Troy's forehead, then his cheek. "You just try to relax now. If you need anything, just yell. I'll be here for you."

Troy smiled. "Thanks, my love."

"Brie, I can watch Joey again," Gabriella said to her daughter, who was sitting on a chair at the dining room table with Joey in her lap; she was reading him a book that had been hers when she was his age.

"Okay, Mom," Brie acknowledged. "Oh, is Dad alright?"

"Yeah. He cut his leg pretty bad, though. Right now he's lying on the sofa resting and watching a basketball game."

"That's good."

* * *

"Is everyone ready?" Gabriella wondered. Dinner had passed, and the time had come to go over and meet the new neighbors.

"Yeah," Troy answered.

"I guess," Troy Jr. groaned.

Julliette and Brie both agreed with their father and brother.

"Okay, then." Gabriella walked over to the front door-her family behind her-and turned the doorknob. "Let's go."

As they all walked outside, Troy went right next to Gabriella and took her hand, gently stroking it with his thumb.

Gabriella smiled.

The Boltons continued walking until they reached the door of the house next to them. Troy pressed the doorbell.

In a moment, the door swung open. Behind it stood a tall, slightly overweight woman with red-brown hair. "Hi," she greeted with a smile. "How can I help you?"

"We're your new neighbors," Gabriella told the woman. "We just wanted to stop over, welcome you to the neighbor-

hood, and introduce ourselves."

"Oh, that's nice of you," the woman commented.

"We're the Boltons," Gabriella went on. "I'm Gabriella, this is my husband Troy, our twins Troy Jr. and Brie, and our youngest daughter, Julliette." As she named each member of her family, she pointed gently to them.

"Nice to meet you. I'm Liz Andrews. I have a husband named Ron, and two kids-Chris and Samantha. Chris is a junior in high school, and Sam-that's Samantha's nickname-is in sixth grade this year. Would you like to come inside and meet them?"

"Sure," Troy replied after looking at his wife for her nod of consent.

Liz stepped away from the doorway, letting her neighbors inside. After they were in, she shut the door. "How old are your kids?"

"Troy Jr. and Brie will be twelve in November, and Julliette is six," Gabriella answered.

"What grades?"

"Sixth-like your daughter-and first."

"Oh, that's nice. Sam isn't the best at making friends, so maybe living next to two kids her age will allow her to be a bit more outgoing; usually all she wants to do is sit in her room and study......unusual for a girl her age."

"I think it's a good thing if she wants to study," Troy remarked. "That's not a bad habit."

"But I always worry about her social life. I mean, she has none. Oh, no, I'm getting distracted. Sam's up in her room-second door down the upstairs hall. Why don't your twins go and see her? I'll get my husband and son."

"Okay. Troy, Brie, go on upstairs," Gabriella said.

Brie willingly obeyed, followed by her brother, who rolled his eyes as he walked after his sister.

"Let's go see the nerd," Troy Jr. whispered.

"Shut up!" Brie instructed softly as she gently knocked on the door that was supposed to lead to Samantha's room.

"Come in," came a voice.

Brie slowly turned the doorknob and entered the bedroom, Troy Jr. trudging after her.

Samantha , who was sitting on her bed reading, looked up from her book. As she did so, her eyes got wide with shock and fear. "W-Who are you?" she stammered.

"We're your new neighbors," Brie explained with a smile. "I'm Brie and this is my twin brother, Troy."

"H-How did you find my room? How did you know about me?"

"You're such a nerd, you should be able to figure that out yourself," Troy Jr. scoffed, casting an unfriendly glare in Samantha's direction.

"Don't listen to him," Brie told her neighbor, who now looked as if her feelings were really hurt.

"Yes, listen to me. You're a nerd, and I know it.......I can sense it."

At that moment, a boy with messy blonde hair came into the room. "Hey, who are you people?" he demanded. "And why are you talking to a nerd like my sister?"

"You know she's a nerd?" Troy Jr. asked. "Awesome!"

"Don't talk to me, kid," the boy ordered rudely as he turned around and walked out the door.

"I'm guessing that was your brother?" Brie said hesitantly.

Samantha nodded shyly, then remembered that she hadn't introduced herself yet. "Oh, my name is Samantha, by the way. You can call me Sam if you want, though."

"Do you prefer to be called Sam?"

Samantha nodded shyly again.

"So, what are some things you like doing?"

"Reading, writing stories.....just stuff no one really cares about."

"Yeah, really," Troy Jr. cut in. "But I guess you're just a typical nerd."

Samantha began to cry.

"Now look what you did, Troy!" Brie exclaimed, gently hitting her brother's arm. "We just met her and already you're making trouble! Would it really hurt you to be nice to someone for once?"

"Don't hit! And I am nice to people! Jake, Cody, Ethan, Dad...." Cody and Ethan were the boys Troy Jr. and Jake had played two-on-two with that day.

"Are you okay, Sam?" Brie wondered, walking over to the crying girl and sitting next to her.

"Y-Yeah. I-I'm used to people hating m-me."

"Well like I said earlier; don't listen to Troy. He's just mean."

"I can't believe you just said that!" Troy Jr. gasped. "My own sister! And my friend! What's wrong with you?"

"I could ask you the same thing," Brie responded, turning toward her twin.

Troy Jr. rolled his eyes.

"Troy, apologize to Sam."

"I don't have to apologize to that stupid little nerd! Leave me alone!"

"But you were mean to her. How would you like it if someone you just met started saying, 'Oh, you're a dumb jock who does nothing but play basketball! But I guess that's typical'; you wouldn't like it at all, right?" Brie pointed out desperately.

"Well I would punch them in the face until they were black and blue. I'm tough; unlike Sam. She's just a big crybaby who needs to learn something called growing up."

Brie, angry, stood up and stomped out of the room. "I'm gonna tell Mom and Dad on you. I don't know who you think you are, idiot! But you're not my brother."

"No, wait! Don't!" Troy Jr. called, rushing after his sister. When he caught up to her, he grabbed her arm. "I-I promise I'll be nice now. Just don't tell Mom and Dad. Be a good friend."

"I need to tell. I'm sorry, Troy. But I can't let you get away with this."

"Why? Brie, I didn't do anything that bad."

Brie pulled free from her brother's grasp and continued moving in the direction she needed to.

Troy Jr. followed his sister.

"Mom, Dad," Brie began as she entered the living room, where her parents were sitting down talking to Ron and Liz. Julliette was with them; patiently waiting until they were finished. Chris was also there-playing a game on his Nintendo DS.

"Yeah, Brie?" Troy and Gabriella both acknowledged, turning to look at their daughter.

"Can I talk to you in private? There's a problem."

"I'm need to come, too," Troy Jr. added.

"Alright," Gabriella agreed. Then, to Troy, she said, "Come on, Wildcat."

Once Brie was alone in the kitchen with her parents and brother, she explained, "Troy was being really rude to Sam; he kept calling her a nerd and making fun of things she likes to do. Now she's crying."

Troy and Gabriella both gave their son an angry look.

"I didn't say any of that!" Troy Jr. lied.

"Well then why did Brie say you did?" Gabriella wondered.

"She's a lier."

"Troy, I know how you are," Troy told his son. I'm sure you did say some nasty comment or another. I would like you to go upstairs, apologize to Sam, and ask her to do something with you-whether it's homework or walking together to the bus stop, or pretty much anything nice. No basketball, though. Unless she likes it."

Troy Jr. rolled his eyes. "Okay, fine. I'll go."

"And remember-be nice," Gabriella added as she watched her son leave the room.

"I will," Troy Jr. called. He then made his way up the stairs and back to Samantha. "Um, I'm sorry," he mumbled.

Samantha looked up as she adjusted her glasses. "I-It's okay. I know I'm not cool or anything. You don't have any reason to be impressed with me; no one ever is-not even my family."

"No, I was wrong," Troy Jr. argued gently. "I had no excuse to be mean to you."

Samantha smiled lightly. "It's okay," she repeated.

"And I was also wondering if you wanted to do something with me."

Samantha suddenly looked nervous. "D-Do something? Like what?"

"It's still light out and I know an ice cream place that's within walking distance. Wanna go get some ice cream?"

"Are you sure? I mean......you don't have to do anything with me if you don't want to."

"I'm positive. Now that I actually talked to you nicely, I can see you're a nice girl."

Samantha blushed. She wasn't used to anyone telling her she was nice, and she certainly hadn't expected it-especially from a _boy!_ And a pretty cute one at that. Yes, she thought Troy Jr. was cute.

"Do you wanna see if my sister wants to go, too?" Troy Jr. asked.

"Sure," Samantha replied, sliding off her bed and walking over to Troy Jr. "Let me just ask my parents if it's okay. I'm sure it will be, though. They don't care too much about what I do."

"Really?"

"Yeah."

* * *

Troy Jr., Brie, Samantha, and Julliette-who had insisted on tagging along-were walking to the ice cream place. As they made their way there, the two oldest Bolton kids were telling Samantha about Albuquerque. Julliette, who was shy around people other than her family and James, kept quiet.

"I think you're really gonna like Northeast Albuquerque," Brie said. "It's a great school. There's all kinds of different clubs you can join and most of the teachers are really nice."

"That's good," Samantha smiled.

"Oh, and the basketball team is the greatest," Troy Jr. couldn't help adding.

"Do you play on it?" wondered Samantha.

Troy Jr. nodded. "Yeah. I love basketball."

At that moment, the ice cream place came into view. "Here we are," Brie informed everyone.

"Oh, no," Samantha sighed. "I forgot money. Well, I can just wait here and talk while you guys eat. It's no big deal."

"But it would be rude to eat in front of you," Brie pointed out.

"No, no, I totally understand."

"I have extra money with me," Troy Jr. announced. "Wanna have a couple dollars?"

"T-Thanks, but, I-I don't want to borrow money," Samantha stammered. "Though it was really nice of you to offer."

"Take it," Troy Jr. insisted, taking two dollars out of his pocket and trying to give them to Samantha. "I get an allowance every week; it's not like this is the last money I'll ever see in my life."

"Are you sure?" Samantha questioned. "Because I don't want you to feel like you have to give me anything."

"I'm positive."

"O-Okay." Samantha took the money. "Thank you so much."

"Alright, let's go inside." Brie opened the door, allowing everyone to walk inside. Once in, she asked her sister, "What kind of ice cream do you want?"

"Vanilla with rainbow sprinkles," Julliette replied.

* * *

"Mom, could Samantha sleep over tonight?" Brie wondered. She, along with everyone else, had just gotten back from the ice cream place.

"Did you ask if she wants to?" Gabriella, who was playing a board game with Julliette, questioned. "Or are you just assuming she does?"

"I asked; she wants to. And her parents both say it's okay."

"Alright. Well it would be okay with me. Let me just ask your father." Gabriella left the room. A moment later, she returned. "He said it's fine."

"Thanks, Mom," Brie said as she went to the front door and opened it. On the porch was Samantha, holding a bag with all her overnight things. "You can come in."

Samantha walked inside. "Where do you want me to put my stuff?"

"It can go in my room," Brie answered. "Follow me."

Samantha followed Brie up to her room, where she set up her sleeping bag and pillow. "I'm all done," she announced when she finished. Then, after a pause, she asked, "Where's Troy?"

"In his room; he's not sleeping over in mine. That would just be kind of weird."

"Yeah. I wouldn't want my brother to sleep in my room, either. Can we just go hang out with him for a little-now?"

"Sure."

* * *

"How's your leg?" Gabriella asked Troy. It was eleven-thirty at night, and Troy and Gabriella had just gotten into bed.

"It still hurts a little," Troy admitted. "But it doesn't feel as bad as it did when I first cut it; thanks to you. I don't know what I would do without you."

Gabriella smiled. "Well I don't know what I would do without you, either. Anyway, how did you get that bad of a cut? You never told me what happened."

"You know those boxes that are stacked against the one wall?" Troy began, referring to boxes of things that weren't needed in the house at the time-or probably at all-but were kept just in case; they really needed to be thrown out.

Gabriella nodded and, yawning, rested her head on Troy's chest.

Troy wrapped his arms tightly around Gabriella. "Well one of those fell and hit my leg."

"I feel so bad for you," Gabriella murmured, yawning again.

"You're sleepy, aren't you?"

"Yeah."

Troy kissed Gabriella's cheek. "Let's try to sleep, then."

"Okay."

Troy and Gabriella, after giving each other several good-night kisses, closed their eyes. Soon, they were fast asleep.


	6. Happy Birthday, Troy!

"Happy birthday, Wildcat!" Gabriella exclaimed when she saw her husband's eyes open as the alarm clock went off, signaling that it was time for the two to get up so they could go to work. A month had passed, making it Troy's birthday. And yes, he had to-unfortunately-work on it. However, he could stay up really late to celebrate because the next day was Saturday.

"Thanks, baby girl," Troy smiled as he kissed his wife's cheek.

"I hope you like what I got for you," Gabriella told Troy as she wriggled out of his warm arms where she had been sleeping and slid off the side of the bed.

"I'm sure I will," Troy assured. "Are you gonna give it to me now?"

"When the kids are all up. Your gift is actually something concerning us all."

"What?" Troy wondered as he, too, got off the bed.

"I can't tell you."

"Please? Just a tiny hint?"

"No," Gabriella refused gently, walking over to the closet and grabbing on outfit from it. "Now just come pick out something to wear for today so we can go get a shower."

* * *

Gabriella smiled and handed Troy an envelope. It was six-thirty, and all the Bolton kids-plus Samantha, who had slept over, were up. Over the time that had passed, Samantha had become very good friends with the twins-especially Troy Jr. Since her parents had a lot of fights and her brother was mean, she didn't like being at home so she basically lived with her neighbors, and had become close to them all. She even called Troy and Gabriella 'Mom' and 'Dad', since it felt like they were her mother and father.

Troy took the offered item and opened it. Inside, was a card. It read:

_You are the music in me._

_My heart is wherever you are._

_I just wanna be with you._

_You mean everything._

_I LOVE YOU, WILDCAT._

_Gabby_

"Oh, my love," Troy breathed, leaning over to kiss his wife's lips. "Lines from songs we've sang. And the words you used when you told me you loved me for the first time. That is too sweet."

Gabriella happily returned the kiss. "Glad you liked it. Now, are you ready for your present?"

Troy nodded.

Gabriella grabbed her purse, which was right next to her, and pulled out six airway tickets and two Warriors game ones. "I asked if we could leave work early-and I asked if the kids could leave school early, too-so we can all go out to California! And you and me are gonna go to the home opener Warriors game!"

"No way! You're the greatest!" Troy exclaimed, hugging Gabriella tightly. Then, remembering something, he wondered, "What are the kids gonna do while we're at the game?"

Gabriella hugged Troy back. "I talked to my mom and they're gonna be going over to her place-overnight. And for us, I reserved a hotel room near a fancy restaurant, where I made reservations. We'll be going there for a late dinner after the game is all over." Gabriella's mother lived near the Warriors stadium. She had moved there-with Gabriella-because of her job and Gabriella's freshman honors program at Stanford University near the end of high school senior year. But Gabriella and Troy had ended up missing each other too much, so Troy-out of the love he had for Gabriella-drove, in the beat up pick-up truck he had at the time, the thousand plus miles from Albuquerque to California to get her and bring her back to the high school for the evening of the graduation ceremony and the senior year musical. That same night, he ended up proposing, and of course Gabriella said 'yes.' Troy then gave up the idea he had of attending the University of Albuquerque to get basketball training so he could play for the NBA, and chose a college near to Stanford so that him and Gabriella could rent an apartment together. However, after marrying, finishing college, and having the twins, they chose to move back to the town they loved so they could work at their former high school. But Gabriella's mom still remained in California.

"Gabby, oh, my precious Gabby, I love you," Troy whispered, hugging Gabriella even tighter.

Gabriella smiled.

Troy let go of Gabriella, allowing her to do the same to him.

"Happy birthday, Daddy!" Julliette exclaimed happily, running up to her father and hugging him.

"Yeah, happy birthday!" Troy Jr. echoed, giving his father a high-five since he thought he was too 'cool' and 'old' for hugs.

"Happy birthday!" Now it was Brie's turn. She hugged Troy just like Julliette had.

"Happy birthday!" This time it was Samantha, who also hugged her 'father'.

"Thank you," Troy said to his children. Of course Samantha was included, too. Just like she felt as if Troy and Gabriella were her parents, Troy-and Gabriella-felt as if Samantha was their daughter.

"Samantha," Gabriella began.

Samantha turned her head to look at Gabriella. "Yeah, Mom?"

"I don't know if you noticed or not, but I have six airway tickets, which means you can come with us. I talked to your birth parents, and they said it was alright, so it's all up to you now." Since Samantha-or any of the Boltons-didn't really care for the rest of the Andrews family, they would always refer to Samantha's real parents as her birth parents, and Troy and Gabriella were called her real parents.

"I would love to! Thank you so much!" Samantha hugged Gabriella.

"You're welcome," Gabriella smiled, returning her 'daughter's' hug.

"Troy, this is gonna be so great!" Samantha exclaimed, running to her friend and hugging him. Next, she went to Brie and did the same to her, then repeated the same with Troy. Lastly, she lifted Julliette-who she now thought of as her little sister-off the ground, making her laugh. "I'm so happy! I have the best 'family' in the world!"

* * *

"Everyone ready to go?" Troy wondered. It was two-thirty, and that meant it was time to leave for the airport since the plane left at quarter after three.

Gabriella and all the kids replied with a yes.

"Alright, let's get to the airport. We'll ride in our usual cars-Samantha and Troy Jr. ride with me, and Brie and Julliette go with Mom." Troy and Gabriella were working on buying a mini van, but until they could, they had to divide the kids up between the two cars they had, since only five people could fit in each one.

The family then went out the front door and got into the cars they needed to. Then, they were off to the airport.

* * *

"I'm still so excited!" Samantha announced about halfway to the airport, leaning over in her seat to hug Troy Jr.

"What's up with the hugging?" Troy Jr. questioned. He wasn't the most affectionate person in the world, so he never quite understood why everyone else seemed to treasure it.

"I'm so happy! And you're my best friend!"

"OFF!" Troy Jr. ordered. "STOP TOUCHING ME! I NEED MY SPACE!"

Samantha, dejected, let go of her friend. She quickly tried to hide the tears that were coming into her hazel eyes.

"Troy, that wasn't very nice at all," Troy informed his son firmly. "Samantha is just very enthusiastic about going away. And just to tell you, hugs aren't poison."

"I know, Dad," Troy Jr. mumbled, crossing his arms over his chest and letting himself pout like a toddler.

"I want you to stop acting like a baby."

"How do you know what I'm doing?"

"In case you haven't noticed, I have a mirror up here that allows me to see in the backseat."

Troy Jr. groaned and looked over at Samantha, who was staring at the floor of the car, still with a sad look on her face. "I'm sorry, Sam."

Samantha looked up at her friend. "It's okay. And just to let you know, I won't hug you anymore if it bothers you that much. I never knew you didn't like hugs before."

Troy Jr. nodded in understanding.

"Oh, and if you ever don't like something I'm doing, could you please ask me _nicely_ to stop?"

"Sure. Can you _please_ never hug me again?"

"Um, I just said I wouldn't a second ago."

* * *

Troy, Gabriella, Troy Jr., Brie, Samantha, and Julliette walked up the driveway belonging to the home of Gabriella's mother-Maria Montez. When they reached the porch, Brie pressed the doorbell.

"Hi!" Maria greeted as she opened the door. "Come in!"

Everyone walked inside.

"Hi, Grandma," Brie greeted, giving Maria a hug. When she was finished, she remembered something. "Oh, this is my-and Troy's-friend Sam," she announced, pointing to Samantha.

"Oh, yes. Your mom told me your friend was coming along. How are you, Sam?"

"Good," Samantha replied.

"Grandma!" Julliette exclaimed, flinging her arms around her grandmother. "I haven't seen you for a year!" That was true-the Bolton family only made the trip to California once a year-usually in the summer. This visit was just a special one due to Troy's birthday.

"Hi, Julliette! How's first grade going?" Maria asked, hugging her granddaughter back.

"I like it," Julliette replied with a smile. Then, letting go of her grandmother, she walked over to her brother and wondered, "Aren't you gonna hug Grandma?"

"I'm too old for hugs," was Troy Jr.'s response.

"Hi, Mom. Nice to see you again," Gabriella smiled. Now it was her turn to hug her mother.

"It's nice to see you and your family again, too," Maria returned. "I always wish I lived closer to your house so that you could visit more often."

"Yeah, that would be nice," Gabriella agreed, going up to Troy and wrapping one of her arms around his waist.

Troy placed one of his arms around his wife's shoulders and pressed a kiss onto the top of her head. "I love you," he murmured.

Gabriella giggled and whispered, "Love you, too."

"So, you're going to the Warriors game?" Maria said. "Oh, and I almost forgot, happy birthday, Troy."

"Thanks," Troy spoke.

"What time do you think you'll be here tomorrow to pick the kids up?" Maria questioned, turning toward her daughter.

"I'm not sure. I depends on how long we sleep tomorrow morning. Because it's gonna be a late night for us. After the game, we're going to dinner. And probably in between the two, we'll have to go to the hotel we're staying at, get a shower, and change into our good clothes."

"Why would we have to shower?" Troy looked confused. "We won't be getting dirty watching a game."

"You'll see," Gabriella informed him. Then, looking at all the kids she instructed, "Watch the basketball game tonight, okay?"

"Why?" Brie wanted to know.

"Just watch it."

"Are we dropping our things off at the hotel before the game?" Troy asked.

"Yeah," Gabriella replied. "And, while we're there, I wanna put on something a bit cooler. In California it's hotter than it is in New Mexico."

* * *

Troy and Gabriella entered the Warriors stadium. "Come over here," Gabriella said, gently pulling Troy to the area in front of a closed door labeled 'locker room'.

"Why are we at the locker room?" Troy questioned.

At that moment, the door opened and Chad walked out. "Hey, dude. Happy birthday!"

"Hey! It's been a long time since I've seen you!"

"I know. And it's been a really long time since we've played basketball alongside each other. But that's gonna change tonight."

"Huh?" Troy gave his friend a confused look.

"Gabriella talked to me, I talked to my team manager, and you're gonna be playing in the first quarter of the game! There's even a uniform with your name on it in the locker room. Go check it out!"

"Really?" Troy turned to face Gabriella. "Thank you so much for doing this!" He kissed her cheek and lifted her off the ground. "I love you!" He then put her down and thanked Chad. "I can't wait for this!"

"Oh, and at halftime, there's another surprise," Gabriella told Troy.

"What is it? What? What? Tell me!"

Gabriella giggled. "Sorry, but you're gonna have to wait. Now go change into your uniform. I'm gonna go to my seat. Come find me and sit with me after you're done playing."

"Alright," Troy agreed. As he walked into the locker room, he thought, _I can't believe how far Gabby went! She's so sweet to set this up for me! I couldn't ask for a better wife._

* * *

"Now, here are the Golden State Warriors!" the announcer spoke. "Chad Danforth, Levi Green, Chase Myers, Dan Hudson, Will Linberg, Bradley Logan, and Harold Setter. Also, I'd like to introduce a friend of Chad's that's going to playing during first quarter-Troy Bolton!"

Everyone clapped, but Gabriella clapped the loudest and shouted, "I love you, Wildcat!" As she spoke, she blew her husband a kiss. "Good luck!"

Troy, hearing Gabriella's voice, smiled and blew her a kiss back. "Love you, too!"

"And now the cheerleaders! Sasha Koffner, Mandy Kington, Gina Harrington, and Hallie Moore!"

The audience cheered.

"Alright, now here's the opponents-the Philadelphia 76ers! Jonny Fallback, Adam Reef, Collin McFee, Patrick Milton, Jamie Freed, and Mason Yogner!" the announcer continued.

No sound from the audience was made, except for a few cheers from Pennsylvania residents that had flown out to California to watch their favorite team play.

"And their cheerleaders-Lisa Steppe, Jess Moyer, Kylie Stanton, and Elizabeth Young!"

Again, no one except a couple people cheered.

"And now, let's play basketball!"

The 76ers recieved the ball first. Not looking like a good start for the Warriors.

"And Danforth gets the ball from Freed," the announcer informed everyone as Jamie lost control of the ball and Chad took it away from him. He then passed it to Troy. An obvious choice, since he was his best friend.

Troy ran while dribbling the ball, then took a jump shot. The basketball glided perfectly into the basket.

The audience cheered. In addition to her cheers, Gabriella smiled proudly.

"Bolton scores the first two points! He's obviously played this game before."

"You're doing great!" Gabriella called.

"And the ball is taken by Hudson, who dribbles and passes to Danforth."

* * *

Troy, sweating and panting, his hair falling into his eyes, slid into his seat next to Gabriella and kissed her. "That was so much fun! Thanks!"

Gabriella returned the kiss. "I'm glad you liked it so much. Now you just need to wait until halftime for the next surprise!"

* * *

"Wildcat, I gotta go to the bathroom," Gabriella told Troy.

"But it's almost halftime. Don't you wanna be here when I see the surprise?"

"I'll be back in time," Gabriella assured Troy with a smile. She then got out of her seat and left the stands.

"Alright, that ends out first two quarters," the announcer began. "Now it's halftime! And we have a special guest here today who's going to sing for us. And that is Troy Bolton's wife, Gabriella!"

Gabriella stepped onto the basketball court and took a microphone from Chad, who was standing near one of the hoops. "Hi, everyone," she began. "I'm here to sing Happy Birthday to Troy." She then sang:

_Happy birthday to you,_

_Happy birthday to you._

_Happy birthday to Troy,_

_Happy birthday to you!_

The audience applauded.

"And now, I'm gonna sing something else. Something to say 'I love you' to my husband." She started singing again:

_I got a lot of things  
I have to do  
All these distractions  
Our future's coming soon_

_We're being pulled  
A hundred different directions  
But whatever happens  
I know I've got you_

_You're on my mind  
You're in my heart  
__It doesn't matter where we are  
We'll be alright _

_Even if we're miles apart  
__  
All I wanna do  
Is be with you, be with you  
There's nothing we can't do  
Just be with you, be with you  
Only you_

_No matter where life takes us  
Nothing can break us apart (You know it's true)  
I just wanna be with you_

_You know how life can be  
It changes overnight  
It's sunny then raining  
But it's all right_

_A friend like you  
Always makes it easy_

_I know that you get me  
Every time  
Through every up, through every down  
You know I'll always be around_

_Through anything you can count on me_

_All I wanna do  
Is be with you, be with you  
There's nothing we can't do  
Just be with you, be with you  
Only you_

_No matter where life takes us  
Nothing can break us apart (You know it's true)  
__I just wanna be with you... I just wanna be with you_

Everyone clapped again. Gabriella then said, "Thank you! And before I go, I'd like to say 'I love you, Wildcat!'"

* * *

"Gabriella, you were amazing," Troy remarked meaningfully, staring into his wife's eyes as she took her seat next to him.

"Thanks," Gabriella responded. "I'm glad you liked it."

"This is so far the best birthday I've ever had in my life."

* * *

Troy and Gabriella stepped in the door of the restaurant they were eating dinner at. Gabriella was dressed in a short-sleeved pale purple dress that came about three inches past her knees. From the opening of her silver and white wedge-heeled open-toed shoes, the midnight blue nail polish she had on her toenails could be seen. Her fingernails matched. She had gotten Sharpay to do that work for her since she could never paint her nails herself without it looking a mess. She had her hair gathered up into a dressy bun, with a white flower tucked into it. Around her neck, she wore the silver 'T' necklace Troy had bought for her in high school. Though it was old and the light pink gems that were once in it were gone, she still treasured the object. On her wrist, she had a silver bracelet with a locket charm on it. Inside that locket was a picture of Troy, along with a small paper that read 'You are the music in me'. He had gotten her that for Christmas when the twins were only four years old. On the ring finger of her left hand, she had on both her engagement ring and her wedding ring. She always did, though. From the second they were first put on, they were never removed. Her make-up was simple, yet lovely. She had tinted lip gloss, foundation, brown eye shadow with a hint of a shimmer to it, and a very light coating of blush. With her, she carried a small purse that was the same color as her dress.

Troy looked just as nice as Gabriella. He had on a dark-colored suit with a matching tie and black dress shoes. He had taken extra care to make his hair look acceptable. On the ring finger of his left hand, he, too wore his wedding ring. Like Gabriella, it had never left its place from the moment Gabriella had slid it on at their wedding.

A lady with a black dress, black tights, black shoes, and way too much make-up walked up to Troy and Gabriella. "Hello. Do you have reservations?"

"Yes," Gabriella answered.

"And what name would they be under?"

"Bolton."

The lady looked through a stack of papers on a desk that was right next to her. "Alright. And you made them for nine-thirty, correct?"

"Yes."

"Okay. You can follow me, then."

Troy and Gabriella followed the lady over to a table that was set for two people. They each took a chair.

"Would you like anything to drink?"

"Could I just have a glass of ice water?" Gabriella requested.

"I'll have ice water, too," Troy ordered.

"Alright. I'll get that for you in a minute. Are you sure you don't want any kind of wine or anything?"

"No, thanks," Gabriella politely rejected. "We don't really drink-other than a small glass of something at a wedding."

_Odd,_ the lady thought to herself as she walked away.

"You know, she's just trying to get more money out of us," Gabriella pointed out. "Since water is always free, she wanted us to get something she could charge us for. And from what I know, wine isn't cheap. I know because Kelsi told me that when she was getting it for her wedding. Same with Taylor." When Troy and Gabriella and Sharpay and Zeke had married, the had been underage for drinking, so they never experienced buying anything like that for themselves.

"Yeah," Troy agreed. "That's what people do. They always want money."

Gabriella giggled. "You don't."

"That's because I have you. And you're worth more than all the money in the world." As he spoke, Troy reached across the table and took Gabriella's hand.

"Alright, here's your water," the lady spoke. Obviously, she had arrived back at the table.

"Thank you," Gabriella and Troy both said as the lady put the cups down.

"Now, what would you like to eat?"

"We didn't get a chance to look at the menu yet. Could we have just a minute?" Troy wondered.

"Okay." The lady left.

Gabriella and Troy started looking at all the dishes the restaurant had available.

"Do you want to share a salad with me for an appetizer?" Gabriella asked.

"Sure," Troy replied. "And for my meal, just to let you know, I was thinking of getting the steak, peas, and mashed potatoes with gravy."

"Mmmm, it's probably the real tender, juicy kind of steak," Gabriella remarked. "I love that. Could I get it, too or will you become mad at me for copying?"

"Baby girl, you can get whatever you want."

Gabriella smiled lovingly.

* * *

Troy and Gabriella had finished eating and gotten back to the hotel room. At the time, they were sitting on the large bed in the middle of the room, talking.

"I had a great birthday," Troy told his wife. "You really planned a lot. Thank you."

"I'm glad you liked it." Gabriella smiled.

"And I was also happy that I got to keep the Warriors uniform."

"Well what else would the team do with it? I mean, you don't play for them."

"True."

Gabriella smiled again.

"I love your smile," Troy commented affectonately, leaning over to kiss Gabriella passionately.

"Mmmm.......kisses......," Gabriella mumbled through the kiss. "Mmmm.....mmm......"

"Gabby, you want more?"

Gabriella nodded.

* * *

Forty-five minutes had passed. Troy and Gabriella were lying under the covers of the bed. They had just finished making love to each other, which, Troy thought, was the best thing he had done for his birthday all day.

Gabriella snuggled up to Troy. "I had a good time."

"Me, too," Troy smiled, kissing his wife's nose. He then began rubbing her arms and back slowly, making sure it felt good to her. "We haven't made love in such a long time."

"I know it seems that way, but in truth, it's only been about.......let's see.......five days. In case you don't remember, we do it at least once a week. And why are you massaging me? I should be doing that to you, Wildcat. It's your birthday."

"Baby girl, I'm feeling your skin underneath my fingers. That's a good enough birthday present for me."

"You like it that much?"

"Well you're so beautiful, my love. So very beautiful. I love being able to touch you."

Gabriella giggled, then turned onto her stomach and moved into a slightly diagonal position so that she could rest her chin on Troy's chest.

"What do you want, precious?" Troy wondered, beginning to stroke Gabriella's hair.

"To talk to you about something."

"Is it good or bad?" Troy questioned anxiously.

"It's kind of neutral," Gabriella replied.

"Well what is it?"

"I've been thinking about what Julliette said about wanting a baby brother or sister. Now I know we already have three-well, pretty much, four-kids, but-"

"You want another baby?"

Gabriella nodded. "Yes, I think I really do."

"Well I'm not in doubt we could work that. I mean, we'll just never use protection when we make love-that would save me a lot of money, anyway-and you can go off your birth control."

"But I don't want to have another child if you don't want one," Gabriella explained.

"Honey, I'll love any child I help you recieve, do you hear me?"

Gabriella nodded. "So, is that a 'yes?'"

Troy kissed Gabriella's forehead. "Most definitly."

"Wildcat?" Gabriella said after a pause.

"Yeah?" Troy acknowledged.

"Would you want a boy or a girl this time?"

"I would take either. Even if we got one that acted that Troy Jr."

"You would really be able to put up with another Troy Jr.?"

"I would have to; that kid would be my child and I would be responsible for some of his or her care."

"You're so sweet, you know that?"

"Baby girl, you tell me that all the time. So yes, I know it." Troy then looked over at the clock that was next to them. "It's one fifteen in the morning now. Are you ready to get some rest?"

Gabriella yawned and nodded sleepily.

Troy reached for the floor lamp that was beside the bed and turned it out. After that, he pressed his lips onto Gabriella's in a good night kiss.

Gabriella returned the affection before repositioning herself so that she was lying right up against Troy's side, one of her cheeks resting on his chest.

Troy wrapped his arms around Gabriella's waist, causing her to giggle. "What's so funny?"

"That tickles. Wildcat, I'm very ticklish, and feeling you touch my skin there just...... well, it tickles."

"I know. I just did that because I wanted to hear your sweet giggle. I'm sorry." Troy then moved his arms up a little, so that he didn't tickle Gabriella anymore. "Better?"

"Yeah."

"Alright, well good night."

"Good night."

* * *

**Just a quick note, none of the basketball players or cheerleaders in this story are real people. However, the teams and the locations they are from are:) And also, please go to my profile and vote in my new poll!**


	7. Halloween Disaster

"Troy!" a blonde-haired girl called out, running through the hallway of the middle school and not stopping until she reached Troy Jr.

Troy Jr. looked at the girl. "Um...hey Sadie." Sadie was a sixth-grade girl who was a huge fan of Troy Jr.

"You know, I really like you. You're amazing! I mean, you're the best player on the basketball team, you have lots of friends, and, on top of that, you're really cute."

"Thanks," Troy Jr. smiled. "And where are you going with all this?"

"Well, you know how tomorrow night is Halloween? I'm having a party over at my house. Wanna come?" Sadie smiled an enticing smile that showed in her blue eyes as well as on her lips.

"I was gonna go trick-or-treating with my twin sister, our friend Sam, her friend Abbie, and my friends Jake, Cody, and Ethan. Sorry. Maybe next year."

"Your sister? You're going with you sister?" Sadie looked at Troy Jr. in disbelief.

"And my friends," Troy Jr. reminded her.

"Can't you just ditch them? I mean, as you might already know, I'm pretty high class in this school whereas you sister-who I didn't even know existed-and your friends, are not. So why don't you just come? You'll be able to hang out with all the popular girls. Oh my gosh, me and them talk about how cute you are all the time!"

_She's kind of too bold and fearless. Her friends are probably the same. I know I could probably get my first girlfriend tomorrow night if I went to her party, but do I really want a girl like that? Wait, what am I thinking? I don't want to date a wimp! I'd turn out just like my dad! No NBA, no nothing. Just a boring life with some freak like my mom._ Troy Jr. thought.

"Troy, are you still alive?" Sadie wondered in a smart tone.

"Yeah, yeah, I am. And I decided that I will go to your party. Thanks for inviting me. Oh, can I have your number so I can call you and get directions to your place?"

"Absolutely." Sadie giggled happily as she pulled a piece of paper and a pencil from the book bag she was carrying and wrote her phone number on it. She then gave it to Troy Jr.

"Thanks," Troy Jr. said.

Sadie responded by turning around and running down the hall screaming, "TROY BOLTON JUST ASKED ME FOR MY NUMBER!"

* * *

"Dad, I'm gonna go to this girl's Halloween party tomorrow night," Troy Jr. announced to his father as they sat down on the sofa with snacks, all ready to watch a basketball game.

"What? I thought you were going with your sister and friends," Troy told his son while giving him a confused look.

"But I could get a girlfriend at the party. And everyone who's gonna be there is popular; like me!"

"Troy, you're eleven years old," Troy Jr. pointed out. "Why the heck do you need a girlfriend? You couldn't even go on a proper date! And just to let you know, couples your age stay together for about a week. That's all."

"But if I have a girlfriend, it will make me more popular than I already am!"

"You know, we gotta talk. You do not use girls for popularity. It's disrespectful. And-"

"What do you know about this?" Troy Jr. interrupted. "You dated one girl! And that was Mom!"

"It's because I waited for the right one to come. Sure, a lot of girls asked me to go over to their houses, stuck their numbers in my locker, and tried to impress me by wearing the world's shortest shorts and mini skirts with super low cut strapless tops. It was ridiculous. They all wanted me. But your mother was the only one who deserved my love. She didn't do any of those annoying things."

"Sadie doesn't do any of that."

"Sadie? You mean Sadie Johnson? The girl who screams your name at every one of your basketball games? Troy, she's not good enough for you! I see how she acts and what she wears."

Troy Jr. shrugged. "She's pretty cute-I think, anyway. And I don't want to make the same mistake you made."

"What was my mistake?"

"You know. You told me before that you wanted to be in the NBA when you were younger. Why aren't you a professional basketball player now? Because you picked Mom over it! Marrying her was a huge mistake. It ruined your life. If you dated a popular girl, you could still be in the NBA because popular girls aren't clingy like wimps. They would want a famous husband who they barely got to see."

"No, I didn't make a mistake," Troy spoke angrily. "I love your mother, more than anything in this world. And you should be thankful you have her. There are kids whose moms died. Be grateful she's alive. And she's not a wimp because she's clingy. She's just very affectionate. And she doesn't have the pride that popular girls have. When they have that, no one can see them cry because it would 'ruin their lives.' Your mom lets me comfort her when she's sad because she knows it's better to cuddle up in my arms, cry, then talk about what's wrong than to isolate herself from all life and let anger and misery build up from not telling anyone how she feels and why."

"Whatever." Troy Jr. rolled his eyes. "I'm gonna date who I want."

"You're too young to date. Seriously! You're not even a teenager yet!"

"Dad, I think Mom's terrible judgment of things is rubbing off on you. Maybe you should stay away from her for a couple weeks."

"Don't say things like that to me!" Troy yelled. "And you know, you're not watching the game tonight. Go to your room!"

"Can I go to Sadie's party?"

"NO!"

Troy Jr. rolled his eyes and stomped upstairs.

"What was all the yelling?" Gabriella wondered as she entered the living room and sat next to Troy.

"Troy wants a girlfriend and I told him he's too young. And he wanted to go to Sadie Johnson's Halloween party. You know who Sadie is, right? The girl who acts like a maniac at all the middle school basketball games?"

"Her? Oh, I hope you told him 'no!'"

"Yeah, I did," Troy assured his wife, putting one of his arms around her shoulders.

Gabriella suddenly began crying.

"Honey, what's wrong?" Troy questioned, terribly concerned. During his words, he pulled Gabriella into a tight hug and kissed her cheek. "What's the matter?"

"T-Troy. H-He's g-growing u-up t-too f-fast," Gabriella sobbed, clinging to Troy.

"Oh, precious Gabby, everything will be fine. I'll make sure he doesn't do things inappropriate for his age, alright?" Troy comforted.

"T-Thank y-you. I-I l-love y-you."

Troy pressed a kiss onto his wife's nose. "Don't cry, my love. I hate seeing you upset."

"I-I c-can't h-help i-it."

"It's okay. It's alright."

* * *

"Where's my cat?" Troy Jr. demanded.

"Hoops? He's here with me in my room," Brie replied. "And why do you sound so angry?"

Troy Jr. walked over to the doorway of his sister's bedroom. He saw both her and Sam sitting on the bed doing homework. "I need to talk to you alone, Brie."

Brie stood up, confused, and went over to her brother. "Let's go in the hall."

Troy Jr. led his sister into the hallway. "I want a girlfriend. And Dad said I couldn't have one. And also, today Sadie Johnson asked me to her Halloween party. Dad told me I couldn't go. He's totally ruining my life."

"Sadie Johnson? I hate her! She's such a drama princess."

"What do you mean? She's cute! And popular."

"You know, you're acting like a complete jerk. Don't talk to me for a while. You're just turning into a typical jock." Brie walked away from her brother.

_I didn't even do anything,_ Troy Jr. thought to himself. _Brie is just like all the rest of my family. Stupid. _Then, he remembered something. "My cat! Brie, I need to get my cat out of your room! I want to put him in mine!"

* * *

"Wildcat, I'm worried," Gabriella began. It was nighttime, and she was in bed with Troy, wrapped in his arms and snuggled against him like she always was.

"About what, my love?" Troy wondered, reaching up with one of his hands to brush a strand of Gabriella's hair off of her forehead.

"Our son. I mean, he acts like he doesn't even want to be part of the family sometimes-like today, when he refused to believe what you told him. I mean, you're an adult. Much older than him. You know about these things. And family members are supposed to help one another. But he doesn't seem to want to have a part in that."

"I know," Troy sighed. "I don't know what to do."

Gabriella began to sob. "H-He w-was i-inside of m-me f-for n-nine months. I-I t-took c-care of h-him w-when h-he was a-a b-baby. A-And n-now......"

"This is really breaking your heart, isn't it?" Troy spoke in a very gentle tone.

Gabriella nodded. "A-Almost a-as m-much as w-when I-I h-had t-to l-leave you i-in high s-school."

Troy kissed his wife's cheek. "My poor baby. My poor, poor sweet baby. I love you so much. Remember that. No matter what, you'll always have me. My love is unconditional."

Gabriella managed to smile. "I-I love y-you, too."

Troy pressed his lips onto Gabriella's. "My precious Gabby."

Gabriella kissed Troy in return.

"Are you sleepy? Do you want to close your eyes and try to rest?" Troy wondered, gently stroking Gabriella's arm with his fingers.

Gabriella nodded. "I am, but I don't know if I can sleep. I'm too worried."

"Just try hard, alright? Please? For me?"

"Okay. I'll try," Gabriella agreed as she snuggled further into Troy for a bit more warmth and comfort. She then shut her eyes.

Troy switched off the light that was next to the bed, then placed a kiss very gently on each of Gabriella's closed eyelids. "Sweet dreams, precious. I love you," he murmured.

* * *

The night of Halloween came. Troy Jr., Brie, and Sam were standing by the front door, ready to go out trick-or-treating. Each of their costumes showed what job they wanted to have when they were adults. Troy Jr. was dressed as a basketball player, Brie was going as a dancer, and Samantha was being a scientist.

"We're going, Mom, Dad!" Brie called.

Troy and Gabriella appeared in the room, Julliette following them. She had on a princess dress and tiara. "Are we going to James' house now?" she questioned.

"In a minute," Gabriella answered. She then held up the camera she was holding. "Troy, Brie, Sam, can I take your picture before you go?"

"Come _on_ Mom." Troy Jr. rolled his eyes.

"Troy, be nice," Troy instructed.

"What about me? Can't I have my picture taken, too?" Julliette said.

"I'll take yours when we get to James', alright?" Gabriella told her youngest daughter.

"Okay, Mommy!"

* * *

Troy Jr., Brie, and Sam were walking along the sidewalk with Abbie, Jake, Cody, and Ethan. They had each already received a lot of candy, even though they weren't even halfway finished going to people's doors yet.

"Brie," Troy Jr. whispered in his sister's ear. "I have to go. It's time for Sadie's party. See you later."

"You can't go to that! Dad said!" Brie reminded him quietly.

"Oh, well." With that, Troy Jr. walked away from everyone and headed toward Sadie's house. He had called her secretly and found out how to get there, so he knew where he was going. The only problem was that she didn't even live in or near the neighborhood. She lived three blocks down. Troy Jr. wasn't allowed to go that far alone. If his mom would see him while driving Julliette to the Baylor house, he would be in huge trouble. But he didn't care. He just _had_ to get to that party.

* * *

Gabriella and Sharpay were both taking pictures of James and Julliette in their costumes. James was dressed as a prince, which went perfectly with Julliette's costume.

"Okay, we're finished," Sharpay told the kids.

James and Julliette, holding hands, ran off together to play until Zeke, who taking them around the neighborhood, was ready to go.

"You know, they're gonna end up getting married someday," Gabriella joked with a smile.

"Yeah, really," Sharpay agreed.

* * *

Troy Jr. rang the doorbell that belonged to Sadie's house.

Sadie opened the door. "Troy! Yay, you're here!" she squealed. "Come in!"

Troy Jr. walked through the doorway. As soon as he did so, five girls-including Sadie-surrounded him, laughing and shouting.

"Troy! Oh my gosh, you're here!"

"Troy! You're so cute!"

"I love you, Troy!"

"Hug me! Please!"

"You're the best basketball player ever!"

Troy Jr. smiled. "Hey, who wants a piece of my Halloween candy?" he asked, holding up the bag that was filled with Halloween candy that he was carrying.

"Me! Me! I do!" all the girls screamed.

"Alright." Troy Jr. reached into his candy bag and pulled out a bar of chocolate. "Who wants this?"

"Me!" Sadie replied, snatching the chocolate out of Troy Jr.'s hand.

"Okay. Who's next?"

A girl with red-brown hair raised her hand and jumped. "Me! Please pick me! By the way, my name's Lindsey Northford."

"No, pick me!" another girl insisted. "I'm Kaitlyn Croft."

"I'm Amanda Bryce! Richest girl in school! Pick me!"

"No, I am!" another girl protested. "Oh, and Troy, my name is Faith Green." She gave Troy Jr. a flirty smile.

* * *

Brie and Sam rushed inside the Bolton house. "Mom, Dad! Mom, Dad!" they both shouted.

"What?" Troy questioned, hurrying up to the two girls.

"Troy....he went to Sadie's party!" Brie spoke hurriedly. "I told him not to, but he did anyway! I don't know what to do! Dad, please help! Please!"

"Calm down," Troy told his daughter. "I'll make sure everything turns out alright. Your mother is out taking Julliette to the Baylors'. I'll call her on her cell phone and let her know what's going on. Then, I'll look up directions to the Johnson house, drive over there, and bring him back. I promise everything will be fine. Don't worry."

Brie started crying. "I-I should've t-tried harder t-to c-convince him n-not to go. T-This is a-all my f-fault!"

"No it's not," Sam said. "It's part my fault, too. I should've noticed he was leaving us and stopped him."

"Don't blame yourselves," Troy comforted, hugging both Brie and Sam. "And by the way, what happened to Abbie and all of Troy's friends?"

"They went home," Sam informed her 'father.'

"Oh, okay. Well why don't you two sit down and relax. I'll go see about getting Troy."

Brie and Sam listened to Troy.

Troy reached into his pocket and grabbed his cell phone out of it. He then dialed Gabriella's number.

"Hey, Wildcat!" Gabriella spoke as she answered.

"Honey, listen. I don't want you to panic or anything, but Brie and Sam just came home and told me that Troy went to Sadie's party."

"He did? But you told him not to!"

"Well you know how he hates to listen. Anyway, I'm gonna get directions to her house, then drive down there and pick him up. And believe me, he's gonna be grounded for a very long time."

Gabriella sighed. "I wish he didn't do things like this."

"Me, too. Now I'm gonna hang up so I can go look up the directions. I love you."

"Love you. Bye."

"Bye," Troy said.

* * *

_How dare he disobey!_ Troy thought as he drove down the road.

_It's like catching lightning,  
__The chances of finding-_

Troy pulled over to the side of the street and answered his cell phone. "Hi, baby girl," he greeted, knowing it was Gabriella who was calling because her photo was flashing on the phone screen.

"Wildcat, I'm on my way home now. Did you get Troy?"

"I'm about two minutes away from the Johnsons' right now."

"Alright. Sorry I bothered you. I'm just really worried."

"Oh, you can call me at any time, precious. I love you."

"Love you, too. Bye."

"Bye."

Troy then hung up and started driving again. After a short amount of time, he went up and parked in the driveway of Sadie's house. Getting out of his car and slamming the door in anger due to his son, he went over to the front door and rang the doorbell.

* * *

"Who's here?" wondered Sadie, who was sitting on the sofa in her living room next to Troy Jr., who was holding her hand. Her friends were on different chairs in the same room, all jealous because their crush had chosen Sadie out of them all.

"I don't know," Troy Jr. replied.

"I'll go look," Lindsey offered, getting out of her seat and walking over to the window. Pulling the curtain back, she saw Troy. "It looks like some guy trying to sell stuff," she informed everyone as she walked back over to where she had been. "Let's just ignore it."

The doorbell rang a second time.

"Troy, I'm gonna go see who that is. It might be a trick-or-treater," Sadie told Troy Jr. as she slid her hand out of his and went over to the window. A second later, she turned around, fear all over her face. "It's some man. I think it's the same person Lindsey saw."

Lindsey got out of her chair and went over to Sadie. "Yeah, it's the same guy," she announced, glancing out the window.

"Maybe you guys should get out of the window," Faith suggested. "It might be a kidnapper."

"Or a robber," Kaitlyn added.

"I'm scared," Amanda said. "Troy, protect us from whoever that person is."

The rest of the girls giggled. Then, with Amanda, they rushed up to Troy Jr. and all tried to hug him at once.

"Okay, I'll protect you all," Troy Jr. assured. "Everyone just......grab candy and soda and act natural-like we're having a real crazy party. And be LOUD!"

All the girls followed Troy Jr. into the kitchen, where they all grabbed cups of soda. They then walked back into the living room, each of them grabbing a piece of Troy Jr.'s candy from his bag.

"This is so much fun!" Sadie shouted.

"Let's jump on the furniture!" Troy Jr. called out, putting his soda on the coffee table that was in the middle of the room and climbing up the sofa. He then began jumping. "This is great!"

The girls all copied Troy Jr. After a minute of jumping, they heard the back door open.

"Hey, Sadie, did you lock your back door after we came back in from your yard?" Kaitlyn asked fearfully.

"Oh my gosh! No!" Sadie exclaimed in fear.

Troy walked into the living room.

"KIDNAPPER!" all the girls screamed, running to Troy Jr. and hugging him. "PROTECT US! PLEASE! CALL THE POLICE! SOMETHING!"

Troy Jr. looked at the 'kidnapper.' "It's okay. It's just my dad. Um......hi Dad."

Troy rolled his eyes. "Get over here. You are going home right this instant," he said sternly.

Sadie kissed Troy Jr.'s cheek. "Bye. We're gonna miss you! See you at school tomorrow. Love you!"

Troy Jr. was too embarrassed about his father showing up to say anything. Instead, he just trudged slowly, head bent, over to Troy.

Troy, not saying anything, led his son out the door and into the car. The whole ride home was ridden in tense silence. Once the two got in the house, however, Troy began yelling. "YOU'RE GROUNDED, YOUNG MAN! GO TO YOUR ROOM NOW!"

"But-"Troy Jr. began.

"JUST GO! WE NEED TO HAVE A SEROUS TALK! I'LL BE UP THERE RIGHT AFTER I TELL YOUR MOTHER ABOUT THIS."

"MOM'S A PIECE OF FREAKING TRASH! WHO CARES ABOUT HER?"

"YOU KNOW WHAT? YOU'RE IN MORE TROUBLE THAN YOU WERE IN BEFORE! DO NOT TALK THAT WAY ABOUT MY WIFE AND YOUR MOTHER! NEVER, EVER DO I WANT TO HEAR WORDS LIKE THAT COME OUT OF YOUR LITTLE SMART MOUTH!"

Troy Jr. stomped upstairs. "I HATE YOU, DAD! MOM, TOO!"

Troy walked into the kitchen, where he found Gabriella sobbing uncontrollably. "Did you hear what Troy said?" he questioned, taking her into his arms.

Gabriella hugged Troy tightly and buried her face into his chest. "I-I-I, w-well, m-my f-f-feelings-"

"I know, I know, your feelings are hurt," Troy murmured sympathetically, nuzzling his nose against Gabriella's hair. "I wish you didn't have to hear our son say what he said. And just to let you know, you're not trash. You're my greatest treasure."

"I-I c-can't g-g-go on l-like t-t-this a-a-anymore. I-I-I c-c-can't s-stand m-m-my s-son. B-But I-I s-s-still l-love h-him."

Troy couldn't bear to see his wife-the one he loved so much-this upset. "Baby girl, I'm sorry. I really am. I should've punished Troy more severely when he was little instead of just putting him in time out for five minutes. Then maybe he wouldn't be like this."

"I-I-It's n-not y-your f-fault. I-I p-p-ut h-him i-i-in t-time o-ut, t-too."

"Honey, do you wanna go in the living room and sit down?"

"B-Brie, S-Sam, a-a-and J-Julliette a-a-are i-in t-t-there. I-I d-don't w-want t-t-them t-to s-see m-m-me l-like t-this."

"Oh, I guess I didn't notice them when I came in with Troy. Well, should we go up to our bedroom? We could cuddle on the bed until you feel better. Sound good?"

Gabriella nodded.

Troy, noticing Gabriella's grip on him wasn't loosening at all, pulled her off the ground and held her like a toddler. He then carried her upstairs and into the master bedroom. After that, he sat down on the bed with her still snuggled in his arms. No sound but the sound of Gabriella's crying could be heard. However, soon noise stopped altogether. Gabriella had fallen asleep.

"Gabby, my love? Are you sleeping?" Troy questioned softly, leaning down to look at Gabriella's eyes. When he saw they were closed, he whispered, "I love you. Sleep well." Then, he tried to put her down. However, she just let out a whimper. Sighing, Troy decided to hold her until she woke up. He laid his head on top of hers, getting comfy. Soon, his eyelids shut and he, too, fell asleep.

* * *

Troy's eyes opened an hour later. He looked at Gabriella and noted that she was also awake.

"Dad! Why did you never come in my room?" Troy Jr. demanded as he appeared in the doorway of his parents' room.

"I had to comfort your mother," Troy replied, a hint of annoyance in his voice. "And just letting you know, she was upset because of you."

"Like I said before, she's a piece of freak-"

"STOP IT!" Troy interruped. "And go back to your room. I'll be there in a minute. I promise."

Troy Jr. rolled his eyes and stomped back to his room.

"Gabby, honey, I gotta go talk to our son, so I need to let go of you, okay?" Troy murmured gently to his wife.

Gabriella felt tears slip from her eyes as she released her grip on Troy and allowed him to do the same for her. "P-Please c-come back s-soon."

"I will." Troy pressed a kiss onto his wife's cheek before he exited the room.

"So you actually came this time," Troy Jr. spoke in a smart tone as he saw his dad come into his bedroom.

"Don't get smart with me," Troy ordered, walking over to his son's bed and sitting down on it. "Come and sit down next to me," he instructed.

Troy Jr. trudged over to his father and sat down.

"Now you have disobeyed. First of all, you walked three blocks-alone and in the dark. You know that's not something you're allowed to do."

"Yeah, but I had to walk there."

"No, you didn't. And secondly, you upset Brie and Sam. They were crying and thinking it was their fault you left to go to that party. Now that was the really bad part of your actions-going to the party after I specifically told you 'no' when you asked me if you could go."

"I just wanted to hang out with the popular girls," Troy Jr. mumbled.

"Now I have a few questions for you. Was there adult supervision there?"

"No, Dad. There wasn't."

"Just what I thought. Now second, did you get together with any of the girls there? And that answer better be 'yes' because when I came inside the house, Sadie kissed your cheek and told you she loved you."

Troy Jr. looked embarrassed. "Um......yeah. I did get together with her."

"You two were never alone, were you?"

"No, we weren't."

"And did you kiss her, kiss her?" Troy pressed. "Meaning kissing on the lips?"

"No, I didn't get that far," Troy Jr. responded.

"Well you shouldn't do that. You're too young. And I hope you know Sadie wasn't serious when she told you she loved you. She was just saying that in a crush way. She wasn't saying it in a way that showed she really meant it. So I don't want you to believe that, do you hear me?"

"She did mean it! She really did!"

"Troy, I know all about this stuff. Your mother didn't tell me she loved me until we had been dating for almost a year and a half. And she said it in a way that I knew she was serious. I heard how Sadie said it to you. It was nothing like what a meaningful 'I love you' should sound like."

"But she did mean it!" Troy Jr. repeated.

Troy shook his head. "Someday, you will understand."

"I do understand. And I understand that Sadie meant it when she said it!"

"Never mind that. Let's move onto the worst thing you did tonight. You called your mother a piece of freaking trash. That was disrespectful, mean, and rude. And so was saying you hated both me and her. Now I have a question for you. Why do you have a grudge against your mom?"

"Because she stole you from me. Half the time when I ask you to play basketball or something, you always say 'Not right now. I'm watching a movie with your mom' or 'Later. I'm helping your mother clean.' It's annoying. And then I'm really sick of hearing you tell Julliette, 'Go get Troy or Brie tonight because Mommy and I are gonna do 'Mommy and Daddy stuff,' okay?' It's like every week! I mean, seriously! Stop doing that with her! And whenever Mom's sick, who watches Julliette? Me. Who has to clean? Me."

"You know why I do all this?" Troy questioned.

"Because you don't like me-or anyone besides Mom?" Troy Jr. answered.

"No, because I love your mother. We've been through so much together. And we've always helped each other when things got difficult. I'm not gonna stop that now. But that doesn't mean I don't like anyone else."

Troy Jr. didn't say anything.

"And I would like you to go apologize to both Sam and Brie and your mom. Alright?"

Troy Jr. stood up. "Okay."

"Thank you," Troy smiled.

Troy Jr. left his room and went into his parents'. "Mom, I'm sorry for being mean," he mumbled.

Gabriella, with tear-filled eyes, looked at her son. "Okay. Well I forgive you. Just please don't let it happen again. It really hurts me when you say stuff like that."

"'ll try not to," Troy Jr. told his mother as he walked out of the bedroom and went downstairs. He found Brie, Sam, and Julliette in the living room. "Brie, Sam, I'm sorry for making you upset. Julliette, if I made you upset, too, I'm sorry."

"You didn't," Julliette assured her brother.

Brie and Sam both went up to Troy Jr. and hugged him. "We forgive you."

"Troy?" Sam said.

"Yeah?"

"Can I talk to you alone?"

"Sure. Let's go up to my room." Troy Jr. led Sam up into his bedroom. "Now what do you want to talk about?" he asked as both him and his friend sat down on his bed.

"It really hurt my feelings when you went off with those popular girls tonight. It kind of made me feel like I shouldn't be your friend because I'm not everyone's favorite person," Sam began.

"Sam, I still want you for my friend. And I apologize again for ditching you tonight."

"And I forgive you again. Now I'd better go next door now. My birth parents want me home tonight because they need me to get ready for this trip to my grandparents' house we're making this weekend." Sam sighed. "I really don't wanna go, though. Whenever I do, my grandparents just either ignore me or treat me like I'm a total idiot. Sometimes I wish I were popular. Then maybe people wouldn't hate me."

"But if you were popular, my dad wouldn't like us hanging out," Troy Jr. pointed out.

"Yeah, that's true. I guess a very best friend is better than thirty casual ones."

"And about that trip to your grandparents', maybe I could go with you. I would have to talk to my parents. I'm grounded, but since it would be with you, they might say 'yes.'"

"You know, I would love that," Samantha smiled. "Thanks."

"I'll go ask now." Troy Jr. slid off his bed, walked out of his room, and into his parents'. There he found Troy and Gabriella cuddling with each other on their bed. "Mom, Dad, can I ask you something?"

"Sure," Gabriella answered.

"Of course," Troy agreed.

"Sam's going to her grandparents' house this weekend. She said they're not that nice, so I told her I would ask if I could go with her. It would make her feel better."

"Well you are grounded," Troy reminded his son.

Troy Jr. looked down at the ground in disappointment. "For how long?"

"Two months. And I'm also gonna take your basketball away and tomorrow I'm gonna call Sadie's parents and let them know what happened last night. Then, with me listening, I want you to talk to Sadie and tell her you need to break up with her, okay?"

"But then she'll hate me forever!" Troy Jr. protested.

"Troy, your father wants you to do this so you can learn a lesson," Gabriella explained. "A lesson that teaches the consequences of dating at eleven years old without permission from your parents."

"I understand," Troy Jr. mumbled inaudiably.

"And about going away with Sam," Troy started. He then paused and turned toward his wife. "What do you think, my love?"

"I think-even though he's grounded-that spending a whole weekend with Sam and none of his other friends would be good for him. She's a nice girl."

"Maybe some of her personality will rub off on him," Troy suggested.

"That's what I was thinking."

"So I can go?" A smile came onto Troy Jr.'s face. "For real?"

"Yes, you can go," Troy confirmed.

"Thanks!" Troy Jr. said, running off to tell Sam he could go with her.

* * *

"Hello?" came a man's voice from over the phone. It was the next day, and Troy had just called Sadie's parents to let them know about the party that had been at their house the previous night.

"Hi, I'm Troy Bolton," Troy spoke.

"Troy Bolton? My daughter's boyfriend? Well, I'm guessing you want to talk to Sadie. If you hold on just a second, I'll put her on," Mr. Johnson said.

"No, I'm not Sadie's boyfriend. I'm Troy's father. My name is also Troy. When my wife had twins-a boy and a girl-we named them after us," Troy explained.

"Oh, okay. Well what do you want?"

"I don't know if you know this or not, but last night, your daughter had a crazy Halloween party and my son went."

"I know. She told me all about it. And I think it's great she got together with your son last night. I can see their wedding already."

"No, there isn't gonna be a wedding. Because my son needs to talk to your daughter about something." Troy then covered the speakers of the phone and shouted, "TROY!"

Troy Jr. walked into the room.

"Sadie's gonna get on the phone. You know what to do." Troy then handed the phone to his son.

"Hi, Sadie?" Troy Jr. began.

"Hi, Troy!" Sadie greeted, giggling. "So, do you want to go out on a date today? Like, right now? I mean, I have homework, but it can totally wait."

"Well, actually..........um.........we need to break up."

Sadie screamed. "Why? Don't you love me?"

"My dad says I'm too young to have a girlfriend. Maybe in a few years we could try again."

"A few years? You gotta be joking! I'm not getting back together with you EVER! In my whole entire life! You broke my heart! You stupid, mean, jerk!"

"Sadie-"

"I don't wanna talk to you!"

Troy Jr. heard Sadie's phone hang up. He did the same. "She was mad," he told his father.

"Well you can't date. And that's final. Now go do your homework."

"Alright." Troy Jr. made his way upstairs and into his room. _I can't believe I just broke up with her. We were together for less than twenty-four hours! And she'll never accept me again now? Even in a few years?_

* * *

"So, did Troy tell Sadie he needed to break up with her?" Gabriella wondered.

"Yeah," Troy replied. "He said she was mad about it. Hopefully that doesn't mean trouble with her in school."

"Hopefully. But you did the right thing by making him leave her. He's eleven years old. He shouldn't even be this interested in girls yet. I was about.....sixteen when I got interested in boys. And that was because of you."

"Same with me. Though to tell you a secret, before I started dating you, I thought Sharpay was cute."

"Sharpay? Really?"

"Yeah. But then I got together with you and I never liked her again."

"Wildcat, you're the craziest person I know," Gabriella giggled.

Troy hugged his wife. "But you love me for it, right?"


	8. Florida Trip

Troy Jr., holding a basketball print bag, walked up to Samantha's door and rang the doorbell. It was Friday; an hour after he had gotten home from school. And it was also the time his friend had told him to be at her house so they could leave for her grandparents' house.

The door swung open, revealing Chris. He first called out, "Hey, Sam! Your nerd friend is here!" Then, looking at Troy Jr., he mumbled, "My sister's upstairs. You can come in I guess."

_What the heck? I'm not a nerd!_ Troy Jr. thought to himself as he walked through the doorway and stepped into the living room.

"Go upstairs," Chris ordered, going over to the TV and resuming the video game he had evidentially been playing. "I'm trying to do something very important."

Troy Jr. didn't say anything in response. He just made his way up the staircase and into his friend's room. "Hi, Sam. I'm here and ready to go."

Samantha, who was stuffing some clothes into a blue bag, turned toward Troy Jr. "Hi. I'm almost done packing and then we're gonna go. The rest of the people in the house are already ready to go. They're just all waiting to go."

Troy Jr. didn't fail to notice that Samantha hadn't referred to her family as 'the rest of the people in the house. It didn't surprise him that she did, though. He knew that she was more fond of Troy, Gabriella, himself, Brie, and Julliette than she ever had been of her birth parents and brother. "Oh, okay. Well I would say you could take your time, but your birth parents might say otherwise."

"Birth parents?" came a woman's voice from the doorway. It was Liz. "Why didn't you just say 'parents?'"

"Um....." Troy Jr. began.

"That's what he meant," Samantha hurriedly told her birth mother. "But 'birth parents' just kind of came out."

"Were you telling him stories about you not liking us?" Liz demanded. "Because I know you never cared for me or your father."

"No...." Samantha lied. "But if you want to know what's going on I can tell you."

"Yes, please tell me."

"Well I kind of got close to Troy's parents and I call them 'Mom' and 'Dad'. Since I basically live at their house, I just count them as my parents."

"I don't see why you should. They weren't the ones who put up with your whining when you were a baby. They weren't the ones who cut up your meat at dinnertime when you were in preschool. But anyway, just finish packing so we can get going. I don't want us late for our flight."

"Okay. I'm all done," Samantha announced, throwing in one more article of clothing then zippering up her bag and lifting it off the ground as she stood up. "Come on, Troy. Let's go."

Liz followed Troy Jr. and Samantha downstairs, where she saw her husband standing by the door and her son on the sofa, still playing the video game he had been playing a couple minutes earlier. "Come on, let's get out of here," she commanded.

Chris didn't make a move to get up.

"You, too, young man! Off your butt! Let's get out of here!" Liz instructed rudely while pointing at her son.

* * *

"Why couldn't _I _bring a friend with me?" Chris complained as he boarded the airplane along with his sister, parents, and Troy Jr.

"You didn't ask," Ron explained to his son. "If you wanted to bring someone, you had to request it in time for us to know to but an extra plane ticket."

"Oh," Chris mumbled, taking a seat.

"Wanna sit here?" Samantha asked Troy Jr., pointing to two empty seats.

"Sure," Troy Jr. agreed, sliding into one.

Samantha took the seat next to her friend. "The ride will be about two hours."

"Attention, attention. Everyone please fasten your seatbelts. We'll be taking off in one minute. And remember, this is the Albuquerque to Florida direct flight, so if you are not supposed to be on this plane, exit now," came a voice over the loudspeakers that were on the walls.

Everyone on the plane made sure their seatbelts were buckled.

"Okay, we're taking off in five, four, three, two, one." After the word 'one' was spoken, the plane rose into the air.

* * *

"Hi," greeted an elderly lady with glasses. "Come in!" It was Samantha's grandmother. The Andrews and Troy Jr. had just arrived at the house they needed to be at.

Everyone stepped through the doorway.

"Oh, Chris!" a man who looked about the same age as Samantha's grandmother exclaimed as he slowly made his way over to his grandson. "So, how are you?"

"Yeah, how are you?" Samantha's grandmother echoed eagerly.

"Great!" Chris smiled.

"Hi, Ron! Hi, Liz!" Samantha's grandmother said, turning toward her son and daughter-in-law.

"Yeah, hi! How are you doing?" Mr. Andrews copied.

"Come on; let's go," Samantha whispered to Troy Jr. "I'll take you to the guest room so we can set up all our stuff."

Troy Jr. nodded, indicating he had heard his friend, then followed her into the guest room. "So, are we actually sleeping in here? Or are your parents and Chris using it?"

"We _all_ have to use it." Samantha rolled her eyes as she spoke. "So get ready to have no sleep for the entire weekend. Because we won't get any. My birth parents will fight over who gets to sleep in the bed, Chris will insist he needs to use it, everyone will steal my pillows because they say they need extra ones...."

Troy Jr. looked at the king sized bed in the middle of the room. "Um, this bed is huge. Why can't your birth parents share it? Don't they sleep in the same bed at home?"

"They're weird. You know that."

"Yeah." As Troy Jr. spoke, he put his bag of things down on the bed.

"I brought a sleeping bag," Samantha told her friend, pulling a light pink and midnight blue striped sleeping bag from her bag of stuff. "And for you......well, my grandparents have extra blankets and pillows from when my dad, my aunt, and my uncle were kids."

"Oh, well first of all, I brought my sleeping bag and a pillow with me, too. And secondly, that's cool you have aunts and uncles. I don't have any. But I guess you already knew that since you know Mom and Dad are both only children."

"Yeah, you're lucky," Samantha remarked. "Because aunts and uncles equal cousins, and I have four very annoying little ones-they're all under six years old and they whine non-stop. Not that I don't like kids. I love kids. Like Julliette. I love helping to baby-sit her when Mom and Dad are out."

"I don't like kids," Troy Jr. disagreed politely. "I think they're annoying and rude."

"Well some adults are annoying and rude, too. Like my birth parents. Don't tell them that, though."

"I won't."

"So, what do you wanna do? Not like there's tons of activities here or anything......."

"Oh, I forgot! I was supposed to call Mom and Dad when I got here. can I use your grandparents' phone real quick?"

"I can come with you while you go ask them. Hopefully they'll say 'yes.'" Samantha walked to the doorway of the bedroom, then looked behind her to see that Troy Jr. wasn't following. "Are you coming?"

"Yeah." Troy Jr. then went over to his friend and let her lead him out of the room and over to her grandparents, her birth parents, and Chris. "Excuse me?"

"Yeah?" Mrs. Andrews responded, a bit unpleasantly.

"Could I quick use your phone to call my parents? They said I should call them when I made it here."

"I guess. It's in the dining room."

"Thanks," Troy Jr. said as he walked away and began looking for the dining room. Finding it, he searched for the phone. Once he saw it, he picked it up and dialed his home phone number.

"Hello?" came Troy's voice from the other line.

"Hi, Dad! I'm at Sam's grandparent's house now, just letting you know."

"Oh, okay. Well, have fun there. I'll see you in a couple-" Just then, Troy was cut off by Gabriella, who insisted on speaking to her son. "Your mother wants to talk to you. I'm gonna put her on."

"Alright, Dad."

"Hello, Troy?" Gabriella began as she took the phone from her husband.

"Yeah, Mom?"

"How are you?"

"Great!"

"That's good. Now I just wanna remind you to be nice to everyone and make sure you don't cause any trouble, and....well I guess that's all. See you on Sunday."

"See you. Bye."

"Bye."

Troy Jr. hung up the phone, then went back to Samantha. "I called my parents."

"Okay. Did you wanna go walk to the beach? It's only ten minutes from here and it's a really fun place. There's a boardwalk and everything. And I have money to get my favorite thing-salt water taffy."

"Of course I wanna go!" Troy Jr. replied.

"Alright. Let me just go in the guest room and grab my flip-flops. I brought them with me." Samantha then disappeared, returning in a minute wearing purple flip-flops. "I'm all ready," she announced, fixing her glasses. "Let me just tell my birth parents we're going." As she finished speaking, Samantha went up to her mother and told her, "Troy and I are gonna walk down to the beach. We'll be back by the time it's dark."

"You'd better," Liz warned. "Because if you aren't, you're not doing anything but sitting in a chair for the rest of this trip." After a pause, she added, "And that goes for you, too, young man," as she pointed at Troy Jr.

"We will," Samantha assured Liz. Then, she looked at Troy Jr. "Come on; let's get out of here."

* * *

Troy Jr. and Samantha arrived at the beach, where they saw kids running around playing, teenagers standing in the ocean water, and adults wearing sunglasses and sitting in chairs.

"Okay, so are we staying here or going to the boardwalk now?" Troy Jr. questioned.

"Boardwalk," Samantha answered as she continued walking.

Troy Jr. followed his friend. "So, do you come here by yourself usually?"

"Yes. My birth parents and Chris hate the beach. They pretty much hate the outdoors. All they wanna do is sit down and play video games, watch TV, and argue."

"Mom and Dad love the beach. We're probably gonna go to one of the California ones this summer. And we'll stay at my grandmother's house-you know, the one whose house we stayed at on the night of Dad's birthday?"

"Yeah, I know who she is. She's way nicer than my grandparents," Sam told Troy Jr. At that moment, the boardwalk came into view. "Here we are."

"Wow! This is so cool! What's all on here?"

"Pretty much restaurants, games, and candy vendors. But trust me; it's fun."

"I see cotton candy!" Troy Jr. exclaimed. "And I happen to have money in my pocket. You know what? I'm gonna go buy a bag of it. If you share your taffy, I'll let you have some, too."

"Of course I'm gonna share!" Samantha said.

Troy Jr. walked up the counter where the cotton candy was sold. Seeing a sign that read, '$2.00 per bag,' he took a dollar and four quarters from the pocket of his pants.

"Hi," greeted a man as he stepped behind the counter. "How many bags would you like?"

"One."

"Alright, here you go." The man grabbed a bag of cotton candy and handed it to Troy Jr. "That would be two dollars."

Troy Jr. paid for his treat, then moved away from the counter. Opening the bag in his hand, he pulled a piece of blue sugary, fluffy candy out of it and stuffed it in his mouth. "Mmmm, it's good."

"Glad you like it. Now let's go to the taffy."

* * *

A half hour had passed. Troy Jr. and Samantha were sitting on a dry portion of sand on the beach. They had just finished up eating their cotton candy and taffy.

"We'd better get back to my grandparents' house," Samantha spoke, noticing that the sun was beginning to set. "I don't want us to get in trouble."

"Okay, let's go," Troy Jr. agreed, standing up.

Samantha did the same as her friend, then started walking in the necessary direction.

Troy Jr. followed Samantha.

"So, did you have fun?" Samantha questioned.

"Yeah. I never thought a boardwalk could be that much fun! The one at the California beach is great and all, but it doesn't have candy vendors. And I love candy."

Samantha laughed. "You can be so weird sometimes."

"Did you just call me weird?" Troy Jr. pretended to be angry.

"Yes," Samantha replied firmly. "I did."

Troy Jr. suddenly sprinted way ahead of Samantha. "You can't catch up to me! Haha!"

"I so can!" Samantha protested, running after her friend. However, her flip-flops kept slipping off, which made it hard to do so. "I don't have on the right shoes! Troy! Wait for me!"

Troy Jr. stopped. "Alright. I'll wait."

Samantha caught up to Troy Jr. in a moment. "Okay. We can continue."

After about five more minutes of walking, the two kids found themselves at Samantha's grandparents' house. Looking at the sky, they noted that they had made it back before darkness had completely taken over.

"The door's locked," Troy Jr. announced as he tried pulling the doorknob of the front door. "Can I ring the doorbell?"

"Yeah," Samantha answered.

Troy Jr. caught sight of the doorbell, then pressed it. A second later, Ron opened the door. "Oh, you're back. Come in."

Troy Jr. and Samantha entered the house and walked into the living room, where they saw Chris listening to his ipod while Liz talked and laughed with her in-laws. In addition to these people was a tall, blonde-haired lady who was holding a little girl in her lap.

"Who's that?" Troy Jr. asked Samantha in a whisper.

"My aunt Jenna and her daughter Brooke," was Samantha's quiet response.

At that moment, Liz noticed Troy Jr. and Samantha. Looking at their clothes, which had sand stuck on them, and their hair and shoes, which were in the same condition, she became angry. "You're bringing all this sand in here? How dare you! Do you have no respect? Now you both get out of the room! Take your dirty shoes outside! Then one of you go in the shower, the other in the guest room to wait to use the shower. When you're all finished cleaning up, you're to sit in the guest room and do nothing. This kind of behavior doesn't deserve a reward."

"Okay," Samantha managed to say.

Troy Jr. was silent. He just began heading toward the door so he could put his shoes outside like he had been told.

Samantha caught up with her friend. Once they were outside, she burst out, "I hate my birth parents! They're so mean! I don't know why they can't be like Mom and Dad!"

"They're stupid. Don't worry about it, though," Troy Jr. told Samantha as he placed his shoes in the corner of the porch.

Samantha did the same, then followed Troy Jr. back inside and into the guest room, where she grabbed her pajamas out of her bag of things. Since she wasn't going anywhere, there was no use in putting on an actual outfit. "I'm gonna go take a shower now. I'll be about ten minutes. Hopefully you don't get yelled at during that time."

* * *

Time had passed until it reached ten o' clock at night. Ron, Liz, Chris, Samantha, and Troy Jr. were all in the guest room, trying to figure out sleeping arrangements.

"I get the bed. I'm the woman here," Liz insisted, pulling back the covers that were on top of the bed.

"No, I'm the man," Ron argued. "I need it more. Back off, idiot." He pushed his wife out of the way, then climbed onto the bed.

"Wait, wait, wait," Chris began. "I'm the best-looking person here, so _I _should get to sleep in the bed."

"You'll use your sleeping bag," Ron informed his son.

"No way! Then I'll have to sleep on the floor near Sam! And you know how much I don't like her! And to make it worse, her stupid boyfriend is here, too."

"Um, Chris," Samantha started, a bit hesitantly. "Troy's not my boyfriend. He's just my friend."

"That's what you think. Now give me one of the pillows you brought. I need an extra one."

Samantha, angry, tossed one of her two pillows to Chris.

"Samantha Faith Andrews! Don't EVER throw anything again!" Ron yelled.

"Sorry," Samantha said, trying to hold back the tears she felt like letting out.

"You know what? You and your friend go in the living room! It's too crowded in here anyway!"

Samantha happily agreed. She then stood up, grabbed her remaining pillow and sleeping bag and looked over at Troy Jr., who was also holding his sleeping things. "Come on," she said as she led him out of the guest room, down the hall, and into the living room. "You know, being kicked out isn't even punishment. It's a reward because I hate sharing a room with my birth parents and Chris."

"Yeah. They get very annoying," Troy Jr. agreed.

"So, if my grandparents don't have anything planned for tomorrow, do you wanna go back to the beach?" Samantha wondered.

"Yeah! That was so much fun! And I have money left over so we can go on the boardwalk and I can get more cotton candy!"

"But this time, we'll have to be careful not to get sand all over us and remember to take our shoes off outside. I don't want us to get in trouble again."

"I know. Being in trouble is no fun," Troy Jr. mumbled, spreading his sleeping bag out over an open area of the floor and placing his pillow at the top of it.

* * *

"I have great news!" Mrs. Andrews began during breakfast the next morning. "Jenna invited all of us over to her house today! And Keith, Rose, Danny, and Brina are going over, too!" Keith was Ron's brother and Rose was his wife. Danny was their five-year-old son, and Brina was their three-year-old daughter.

"That's great!" Ron exclaimed. "I haven't seen my brother in so long!"

"I can't wait to talk with Rose again," Liz spoke. "And her kids are just adorable!"

"I'd better charge my ipod before we leave," Chris told everyone. "Because I'm gonna have a very boring time if it runs out of battery."

Samantha used her fork to pick at the half-eaten eggs that were on her plate as she held in an annoyed groan. Seeing her cousins wasn't great news to her. That's one of the many reasons she preferred the Boltons to her blood relatives; Troy and Gabriella were only children. However, their parents had brothers and sisters who had gotten married and had kids, which meant Troy Jr., Brie, and Julliette had great-aunts and great-uncles, but fortunately their kids were all adults. Anyway, the previous two generations of the Bolton family were never real close, and the Montezes weren't much different, so Troy and Gabriella never had their family get together with those relatives. The only times they really saw them was when they were Jack and Lucille's house or Maria's house and they had their siblings over for a visit.

Troy Jr. rolled his eyes. Now the plan to go to the beach again was ruined.

At that moment, the phone rang. Mr. Andrews got up, went over to it, and looked at the caller ID. "It's someone we don't know," he announced.

"What's the name?" questioned Mrs. Andrews.

"Troy Bolton. And it's a New Mexico number. Other than you, Ron and Liz, and your family, I don't know any-"

"Excuse me," Troy Jr. cut in. "That would be someone in my family calling."

"Well it stopped ringing now," Mr. Andrews said. "So whoever it was will just have to leave a message. And I think when and if you call them back, you should tell them it's not good manners to call at ten in the morning. If you weren't over, I would still be in bed."

Troy Jr. looked confused. His parents had said anytime after nine-thirty it was okay to call someone.

The phone began beeping, indicating someone had just left a message. Mr. Andrews picked it up and started listening to it.

"Hi, Troy! We were all just wondering how you were doing and if you were having a good time. When you get this message, please call back, bye," came Gabriella's voice through the speaker.

"I think it was your mom. Here. Call her back." Mr. Andrews handed the phone to Troy Jr.

Troy Jr. left the table, went out in the living room so he wouldn't bother anyone, then dialed his home phone number.

* * *

"Sam, eat the food I made fow you!" Brina ordered, tossing a slice of play pizza to Samantha. Troy Jr., Samantha, and everyone else had just arrived at Ron's sister's house, and already the little kids were being annoying.

"Yeah! Eat it!" Brooke echoed, jumping up and down.

Samantha, to make her cousins happy, pretended to take a bite of the plastic pizza. "Okay, I'm done."

"You didn't eat it! You didn't even put youw mouth on it!" Brooke insisted. "I guess you'we not hungwy. I'll see if someone else wants it." She took the pizza from Samantha's hand.

"Do you wanna go sit down?" Samantha asked Troy Jr.

"Sure," Troy Jr. replied.

Samantha and Troy Jr. both walked over to the sofa that was in the living room and sat down. "I'm bored," Samantha commented.

"Yeah, me, too. Are we allowed to put on the TV? I think the Warriors game is on now."

"No one's using it. I guess we could." Samantha grabbed the remote control, which was lying right next to her, and pressed the button needed to turn it on. She then pressed the number three, and the Warriors and their opponents appeared on the screen.

Troy Jr. looked at the score, which was posted in the corner of the screen. The Warriors were losing. "Come on! Go Warriors! Go! Go! Come on, Mr. Danforth! Get a basket!"

Samantha, who wasn't interested in basketball, decided to get the book she had brought with her from the car. So she got up and headed outside. A moment later, she returned.

"Go! Go! Go!" Troy Jr. shouted.

"Troy, could you be a little quieter so I can read my book?" Samantha requested.

"I can try. What are you reading?"

"A Warriors book."

"Awesome! You like the team, too? I never knew that."

"No, I don't. And the series Warriors is about cats who live in a forest. They fight each other and go on adventures. They're really good books. You should try reading one sometime."

Troy Jr. looked at the book in his friend's hand. "Into the Wild?" he said, reading the title of it.

"Yes. It's the first one that was ever written. I read Bluestar's Prophecy, the prequel to the whole series, before I started this one. That was a great story. But sad."

"How was it sad?"

"Cats died."

"Oh."

"You wanna try reading this one? I'm not too far into it. I could just go back to the beginning so we could both read it right now."

"I guess," Troy Jr. shrugged. To himself, he thought, _It has fighting in it. How bad can it be?_

Samantha paged back to page number one. Then, her and Troy Jr. both started reading.

* * *

"Hey, nerds," Chris yelled, pulling his sister's ponytail. "We're gonna go for a walk. You two coming?"

Samantha looked up from Into the Wild. In the hour that had passed, her and Troy Jr. had gotten to chapter five.

"Wanna go?" Samantha asked, turning toward Troy Jr.

Troy Jr., who was apparantly engrossed in the story, didn't say anything.

"Troy!" Samantha tried again.

"Oh, yeah, I'm ready for the next page. Are you?"

"Yes, and I was asking you a question. Do you wanna go for a walk with everyone or would you rather stay here?"

"Um...stay. This book is really addicting. I can't believe I actually like it," Troy Jr. responded. "Do you know if they have this series in the school library?"

"Yeah, they do. That's where I got it from."

"Cool! I'll have to go check one out on Monday."

"So, you aren't coming?" Chris checked.

"No, we're not," Samantha responded.

Chris walked away.

"Samantha, how selfish of you to not want to have family time!" Liz scolded as she approached her daughter a moment later. "You will go on the walk! Reading all the time is not good for you!" She then noticed that Troy Jr. was also reading. "You know, you two are a pair of nerds."

Samantha resisted the urge to roll her eyes. Instead, she just shut the book and got off the sofa.

"What? Sam! I was in the middle of a paragraph!" Troy Jr. exclaimed.

"We're not allowed to stay home from the walk," Samantha explained. "We can work more on the book when we get back."

"When we get back, your aunt Jenna is gonna be making dinner. Rose and I are helping her. The men are going to watch TV. So you and Troy will need to watch all your cousins."

"What? But-"

"No 'but's', young lady. You will do as you're told. Now let's get moving."

* * *

Everyone was walking along a sidewalk, Troy Jr. and Samantha purposefully lagging behind so they wouldn't have to listen to the little kids' annoying babbling.

"I really wish we weren't forced to go on this walk," Samantha remarked.

"I know," Troy Jr. agreed, looking down at the ground. "It's pretty boring."

"Excuse me," said a lady with medium brown wavy hair that reached her shoulders. "Could I please squeeze through here?"

"Sure," Troy Jr. mumbled as he raised his head to see who had spoken. When he saw, his mouth opened in surprise. "Mrs. Evans? What are you doing here?"

"Mr. Evans, Karli and I are taking a weekend vacation here," Kelsi replied.

"Oh, really?"

"Yeah. So, who's this?" Kelsi wondered, pointing gently at Samantha.

"My friend Sam. She's visiting her grandparents this weekend and I just came with her so she would have a friend to hang out with."

"Nice to meet you, Sam," Kelsi greeted pleasantly. "I'm Kelsi Evans."

"Hi," Samantha said politely.

Just then, Ryan appeared behind his wife. In his arms was Karli.

"Oh, and this is my husband Ryan Evans and our little girl Karli," Kelsi continued.

"Who's this?" Ryan questioned.

"Troy-you know, Troy and Gabriella's son. And the girl with him is him friend Sam."

"Oh, Troy. Nice to see you again. It's been a while since we've gotten together. I didn't even reconize you! So, are you still interested in basketball?"

"Yeah, definitely," Troy Jr. answered.

"Are you coming to our house sometime over either Thanksgiving or Christmas break from school?" Kelsi wanted to know. "I called your mom about it maybe like...a month and a half ago."

"I don't know. She never said anything to me."

"Oh. Well we never had any definite plans. I just wanted to have a get-together _sometime_. I'm not even sure which holiday break I want to have it at yet."

"Well I didn't know anything about it."

"Your daughter's cute," Samantha commented cheerfully, looking at the little blonde-haired girl. "What did you say her name was again?"

"Karli," Kelsi told Samantha.

"How old is she?"

"She'll be three in February."

"Troy! Samantha! Don't talk to strangers!" Ron called, suddenly noticing the two oldest kids weren't near the group of family anymore.

"They aren't strangers," Troy Jr. informed Ron. "They're friends of my parents."

"Oh, well then you can catch up to us later, I guess. Don't get lost."

"Daddy, can we get ice cweam now?" Karli asked Ryan. "You said we wewe gonna get ice cweam."

"In a minute, Karli," Ryan replied.

"Did you two wanna come with us for ice cream?" Kelsi invited.

Troy Jr. looked at Samantha, who nodded. "Yeah, we do. Let us just quick tell Sam's family."

"Alright. We'll wait right here."

Troy Jr. ran up to the group of adults and little kids. "Could Sam and I go with my parents' friends to get ice cream? They invited us."

"I guess. You're not participating in the family activity anyway," Liz spoke. "Just be back at Jenna's by four-thirty. If you're not, you'll be in trouble."

"Okay." Troy Jr. then raced back to Samantha and the Evans family. "We can go. We just need to be back at Sam's aunt's house by four-thirty."

"I thought you were at her grandparents'." Kelsi looked confused.

"Yeah, we're staying there, but we're visiting her aunt today."

"Oh."

"Can we go now?" Karli begged.

"Yes. We're going now," Kelsi said, starting to walk along with the rest of her family.

"Even Mom and Dad's friends are pleasant," Samantha whispered to Troy Jr. as they followed Kelsi, Ryan, and Karli.

Troy Jr. nodded, indicating he had heard his friend. "Yeah, all their friends are pretty cool, actually. Especially Mr. Danforth; you know, the one who's in the NBA? When I was little, he used to play racecars with me."

"Really? He used to play with you?"

Troy Jr. nodded. "Now, if he comes over, he helps me learn NBA basketball playing tricks."

"That's great for you! No wonder you're the best player in school!"

Troy Jr. smiled. "Yeah, that probably is why."

* * *

Troy Jr. and Samantha said 'bye' to the Evans family, then walked through the door of Jenna's house. There, they found all the adults standing in the living room, annoyed glares on their faces.

"I wonder what happened," Samantha whispered.

Troy Jr. allowed himself to look over at the clock that was hanging on the wall. It read five fifteen.

* * *

**Hey! I have a poll up on my page about the gender of the baby Gabby's gonna have. And also, my Valentine's Day oneshot is coming out next Sunday, so I need to work on it. This story won't be updated for a little over a week.**


	9. Home

**Hey! I know I said I couldn't update for over a week, but I had snow days this week, so I found the time to write!!!!!!**

* * *

"You kids were supposed to be home at four-thirty," Liz reminded Troy Jr. and Samantha very coldly. "What part of that didn't you understand?"

"I'm sorry. We lost track of time," Troy Jr. apologized hurriedly.

"That's no excuse. And because you weren't here to watch the little kids while dinner was being made, we all have to suffer and eat late because the meal wasn't able to be started yet. Now both of you, upstairs and into Brooke's room. The kids will all be in there. Don't come down until I say it's okay. And no dinner for you tonight. You're loser nerds, that's what you are. You don't think about anyone but your little ugly selves."

Samantha began to cry. Her birth mother had said mean things before, but this was the meanest she had ever heard.

"Stop crying, wimp!" Ron ordered.

Troy Jr. reached out and hugged Samantha.

"I w-wanna g-go h-home," Samantha sobbed.

"Mr. Evans gave us the name of the hotel they're staying at-the suite number, too. Do you want to walk down there and see if we can hang out with them for a little bit again?"

Samantha nodded and managed to smile a little. She was looking forward to seeing the Evans family again so soon; especially little Karli.

"Let's go, then." Troy Jr. let go of Samantha, then went to the front door and put his hand on the doorknob.

"Hey!" Liz shouted. "Where do you think you're going?"

"Out," Troy Jr. mumbled. Then, louder, he added, "Because no one should have to be around nasty jerks like you. If you knew how bad you were, you wouldn't blame Sam for liking my parents a lot better. Yes, they can get annoying at times, but at least they care and support me and my sisters-and Sam, too."

"Don't talk to me that way, young man. And just to let you know, I've seen your parents. They're nerds, just like you and your sisters."

"At East High, my dad's a basketball coach and my mom's a teacher. They both are in charge of drama club there, too. My twin sister's a dancer. My younger sister is only in first grade-she can't be classified as a nerd, cheerleader, drama girl-whatever yet. Leave her alone. And me-I'm a proud jock."

Ron laughed. "Whatever, little boy. Talk all you want. You don't look athletic at _all_."

Troy Jr. opened the door. "Come on, Sam. Let's leave the house of idiots."

Samantha went out the open door, looking behind her to make sure Troy Jr. was following. "You were really brave to say all those things to my parents," she commented once the door was closed and her and Troy Jr. were down the driveway belonging to the house.

"Yeah, well being rude has a use to it," Troy Jr. responded.

"I guess it does. So, where did Mr. Evans say he and his family were staying at?"

"Sunshine Paradise," Troy Jr. answered. Then he began laughing.

"What's so funny?" Samantha wondered.

"Sunshine Paradise.....it's a funny name for a hotel."

"Well this is the 'sunshine state'. I guess the owner of the hotel wanted a name that had 'sunshine' in it."

* * *

Troy Jr. and Samantha walked up to suite number forty-six; that was the Evans' suite. Troy Jr. then used the knocker that was on the door to knock.

"Hi," Ryan greeted as he turned the doorknob, revealing the two visitors. "You can come in if you want."

Troy Jr. and Samantha walked through the doorway. They found themselves in the small living room of the suite, where they saw a sofa and TV. In the corner of the room, there was a round table with four chairs around it.

"So, what's up?" Ryan asked, shutting the door.

"Sam's parents are being jerks," Troy Jr. explained. "That's all I need to say."

"Oh. I get what you mean."

At that moment, Kelsi came into the room carrying Karli, who was crying. "Shhhh, Karli, we're gonna go out to eat now. You'll get to eat soon."

"But I'm hungwy," Karli cried.

"Well Mommy doesn't want you to eat a snack, then not be hungry enough for dinner. You're a big girl, you can wait for food. Anyway, you just had ice cream not too long ago," Kelsi told her daughter. Just then, she caught sight of Troy Jr. and Samantha. "Oh, hi," she smiled.

"Hi," Troy Jr. and Samantha both returned.

"Sam!" Karli exclaimed as she stopped crying. "You came to see me!"

Samantha smiled. "Do you want to sit on my lap?"

"Mommy, can I?" Karli asked Kelsi.

Kelsi nodded and put her daughter on the ground.

Karli ran over to Samantha, who picked her up and sat on the sofa with her.

"You know, if we lived closer to you, Sam, you would be Karli's babysitter," Ryan told Samantha. "She seems to really like you."

"I like little kids," Samantha said. "Well, not all of them. Just ones like Karli who aren't bratty. I have little cousins who throw plastic food at me and yell."

"No one likes kids who act like that."

"Mr. and Mrs. Evans," Troy Jr. began. "Do either of you have a cell phone with you? I want to call my parents and tell them something important."

"Yeah, I do," Ryan answered. He then reached into the pocket of his tan pants and pulled out a shiny navy blue touch screen iphone, which he handed to Troy Jr.

"Oh my gosh!" Troy Jr. exclaimed. "You have this phone? Oh my gosh! This is the coolest thing! I would never be able to get one like it! It costs so much money!"

"Not to brag or anything, but the Evans family is rich."

"I can tell! Now how does this work?"

"Just dial the phone number and push 'talk'," Ryan replied.

Troy Jr. listened, then placed the phone at his ear. A moment later, his mother answered.

"Hello, Ryan?"

"No, this is Troy," Troy Jr. corrected. "I'm just on Mr. Evans' phone."

"What are you doing in New York? I thought you were in Florida! What happened?" Gabriella questioned hurriedly.

"The Evans family is in Florida, too. Sam and I are visiting them in their hotel suite now because of something that happened with Sam's birth parents."

"The Evans are there? That's great! Now, what's the problem with Sam's birth parents?"

Troy Jr. told his mother about what had happened. "So now we're at the Evans' suite and we don't wanna go back to Jenna's house or Sam's grandparents' place," he finished.

"That is the meanest thing I've ever heard of someone saying to their own child. I wouldn't be surprised if they started abusing Sam-and you. Making fun of her because she likes to read? Encouraging her-and you-to not want to?" Gabriella was shocked and horrified. "Oh, and by the way, I'm glad to hear you found a book series you like. Maybe we'll have to have a family reading night sometime. That is, if I can get your father to open up a book."

"That sounds great. Now can you tell me what Sam and I should do? We have all our stuff at her grandparents' house and we're scared to go back there because Mr. and Mrs. Andrews will probably get out a knife and murder us for ditching them if we show up." Troy Jr. was in a panic. "What should we do?"

"I don't know, Troy. This is a tough situation. Stay with the Evans family now. You're safe with them. I need to talk to your father about this. I'll call you back. Okay?"

"That sounds good. Bye."

"Bye."

* * *

Gabriella went to the sofa and sank down into it, feeling upset and panicked. What could she do? Her son and 'daughter' were in a situation that would be very difficult to improve.

"What's wrong, precious?" Troy asked softly as he entered the room, sat next to his wife, and took one of her hands in his. "You look worried about something."

Gabriella burst into tears and clung to Troy. "T-Troy a-and S-Sam. I-I'm w-worried a-about t-them."

Troy pulled Gabriella into his lap and protectively cuddled her close to him, pressing gentle kisses all over her face. "Why? What's the matter, my love? Tell me."

"S-Sam's p-parents a-are b-being m-mean t-to T-Troy and S-Sam. I-I'm scared t-they'll s-start a-abusing them o-or s-something," Gabriella sobbed. "I-I don't k-know w-what t-to do!"

"First of all, settle down," Troy told his wife. "Try to calm yourself. Take deep breaths. Give me kisses."

Gabriella followed Troy's suggestions.

"Alright, that's enough," Troy informed his wife as she placed one of a series of many kisses onto his forehead. "I think I'm drowning in your affection."

Gabriella giggled. "Well you said to give you kisses-not just one kiss."

"You are too cute," Troy commented, stroking Gabriella's hair.

Gabriella smiled and snuggled against her husband. "I love you."

"Love you, too. Now what's the problem with Troy and Sam?"

"Well Troy just called here and he said that Sam's parents were calling both him and Sam selfish, ugly, loser nerds. I'm scared that they're gonna start abusing them."

"Oh, Gabby, that's terrible. But I don't know what to say. Do the kids want to come home?"

"I don't know. The Evans family are apparently also in Florida-thank goodness-so they're with them right now in their hotel suite. But all their things are at Sam's grandparents' place, so they're gonna need to go back there at some point. They don't want to, though."

"This is tough. I don't know what to say. I guess maybe Ryan or Kelsi could take them to Sam's grandparents' when no one is home there. Maybe the door would be unlocked and they could quick run in, get their stuff, and run out. Then they could just fly back here when they were finished with all that. There's two of them, so it shouldn't be dangerous to ride on the plane with no familiar adults."

"Wildcat, you are so smart! I love you!" Gabriella burst out, hugging Troy tighter than she had been and kissing him on the lips. "I love you! I love you!"

Troy returned Gabriella's kiss. "Glad I helped, baby girl."

"I'm glad you did, too. Now let me quick go call Troy back and tell him your suggestion, then we'd better take Brie and Julliette to the mall like we planned."

* * *

Troy, Gabriella, Brie, and Julliette were walking around the mall, looking for a store that appealed to them.

"How about we go in Shoe City," Brie suggested. "I really want a pair of new shoes."

"Alright, I guess we could go in there and look," Gabriella agreed. "Is that okay with you, Troy?"

Troy nodded. "Yeah, it's fine with me."

Troy, Gabriella, and Brie walked into Shoe City, not noticing Julliette had wandered off to look at a display of kids' books that was located in the hallway of the mall.

"Where's Julliette?" Troy questioned once he was inside the store with his wife and one of his daughters.

Gabriella looked around her. "Julliette! Julliette!"

"Where is she?" Brie wondered. She went over to the entryway of the store and looked out of it. She didn't see her sister anywhere.

"Julliette!" Troy called. "Julliette, where are you?"

Gabriella rushed up to Troy and hugged him tightly for comfort. "What if we can't find her?"

* * *

Julliette glanced around her. Not seeing her parents or sister, she became very panicked. "Mommy! Daddy! Brie! Where are you? Where are you?" Then, hearing no reply, she sat down and began to cry.

"Julliette what's wrong?" a familiar voice asked.

Julliette lifted her tear-filled eyes and saw Sharpay's face. "M-Mrs. B-Baylor. I-I lost m-my mommy a-and daddy a-and B-Brie."

"Don't worry, I'll help you find them," Sharpay comforted. She then reached into her designer purse and pulled out her hot pink cell phone. Turning it on, she dialed Gabriella's cell phone number.

"Hello, Sharpay?" Gabriella answered.

"Hi, Gabriella. Where are you? I'm here in the hallway of the mall with Julliette. She told me she was lost."

"You're at the mall, too? And you found my daughter? Thank you so much! Bring her to the food court-Troy, Brie, and I will meet you there."

"Okay," Sharpay acknowledged. "See you in a minute. Bye."

"Bye."

Sharpay hung up, then turned toward Julliette. "Come with me. I called your mommy. She, your daddy, and Brie, are gonna meet us at the food court. Alright?"

"Yay!" Julliette exclaimed, standing up quickly. "Thank you so much for helping me!"

"You're welcome," Sharpay smiled.

* * *

Troy Jr. and Samantha ran out of Samantha's grandparents' house, their bags in their hands. They had just tried the plan Troy had thought up, and it was a success. Now they could get tickets for the next plane back to Albuquerque and go home to the Bolton house.

"I guess you got everything," Ryan observed as he saw Troy Jr. and Sam climb into the backseat of his rental car holding their things.

"Yeah, we did," Samantha said. "Now, are we gonna go see about getting plane tickets?"

"Yup," Ryan replied. "We're going to the airport right now. You'll probably be able to get a ride back to Albuquerque tonight; not many people ride on airplanes Saturday nights. The big nights are Friday and Sunday."

"That makes sense," Samantha commented.

* * *

Troy Jr. and Samantha rang the doorbell of the Bolton house. They had made it back to Albuquerque and walked home. Now exhausted, all they wanted to do was go inside, eat a snack, and read more of Into the Wild.

"Oh, you're back," Brie remarked with surprise as she answered the door. "Mom told me about what happened with Sam's birth parents, but I didn't know if you were coming home early or not."

"Yeah, we came home early," Troy Jr. told his sister. "We just couldn't take being with Sam's family anymore."

"Well come in," Brie invited, stepping aside to let her brother and Samantha walk through the doorway. "We're having an emergency now-Mom lost her wedding ring. Could you two help look? She's panicking. And almost in tears."

"Sure," Samantha agreed, putting down her bag of things. "Where is she?"

"Upstairs," Brie replied.

Troy Jr. also put his bag down as he swung the front door shut. "I'll help look, too, I guess. Hopefully it won't take real long because I'm really tired."

"With everyone working together, we should find it quickly," Brie assured. "Come on; let's get started now." She hurried upstairs.

Troy Jr. and Samantha rushed after Brie.

"Troy? Sam?" Gabriella's eyes brightened up as she saw her son and 'daughter.' Quickly running over to hug them both, she exclaimed, "I was so worried about you! I'm do glad you're here!"

"We're fine," Troy Jr. said. "I stood up to Sam's stupid birth parents. They were calling our family a bunch of nerds. But I told them we weren't!"

"Good for you," Gabriella smiled. "Though just be careful when talking to people like that; they could get violent with you. Keep that in mind, okay? I don't want anything bad to happen."

"Alright," Troy Jr. sighed. "I will."

"Mommy!" Julliette ran up to her mother holding a small object. "I found your ring! Tutu was about to eat it!"

"Tutu was gonna eat it?" Brie repeated. "Where is she?"

"In my room."

Brie hurried into her sister's room. There's she saw her cat lying in the middle of the floor, looking proud as could be. "Tutu! Don't try to eat things like that! Bad girl!"

"You found it?" Troy checked anxiously, walking up to his wife.

"Julliette did," Gabriella spoke. Then, she turned toward her youngest daughter. "Thank you so much!"

"You're welcome!" Julliette acknowledged.

"Oh, Troy! Sam! You're home!" Troy noticed. He went over to the two he had just mentioned, gave Troy Jr. a high-five, and Samantha a hug. "I'm glad to see you! Did you have fun at all in Florida?"

"A little," Samantha answered.

Troy Jr. agreed. "Yeah, not too much, though. Until we started hanging out with the Evans'. Oh, and when we went to the beach."

"Karli is the cutest little girl!" Samantha told her 'father.' "Mr. Evans said that if I lived close to his family, I would get to baby-sit her!"

"Wow! That would be great for you!" Troy commented.

"Yeah, I know! It would be!"

"Sam," Troy Jr. began. "Do you wanna work on reading Into the Wild? We were in the middle of an exciting part when we had to go."

"Sure," Samantha responded. "You know, we're lucky I managed to take it from where I left it in my aunt's house while you were telling my birth parents off."

"Troy? You like to read now?" Troy questioned. "And you told Sam's birth parents off?"

Troy Jr. nodded, a smile on his face. "Yeah! Sam got me interested in this great book series called Warriors. It's about cats that live in a forest. They fight and get hurt and even communicate with their ancestors! It's awesome! And yes, I called Sam's birth parents 'nasty jerks!'"

"You need to be careful about what you say to people," Troy warned. "I know you were probably trying to defend yourself-and Sam-but people can get violent sometimes if you say things like that."

"That's what Mom told me."

* * *

Brie had just finished one of her Nutcracker rehearsals. She thought she had done a pretty good job with both the dances she was in.

"Okay, everyone," Miss Emmy called out. "I have a special announcement for all of you."

All the girls in the dance studio turned to look at Miss Emmy.

"Your Nutcracker performances will be Friday, December 5, Saturday, December 6, and Sunday, December 7. They will all be held in the auditorium at East High. Each day, we will begin the show at seven o' clock-p.m. of course, not a.m. But you need to be at the school a half-hour early. Alright?"

All the girls nodded in agreement.

"And also, there's one more thing. Two members of the New York City Ballet will be coming to watch our Sunday performance. There, they will observe how well each of you dance and choose four of you to spend this coming summer in New York to be professionally trained by them."

"I am so in there," Jessica announced proudly. "Because everyone knows I'm the best ballerina in this whole dance school."

"Do you think we'll get in?" Abbie asked Brie in a whisper.

"I don't know," Brie answered. "I guess we have as good a chance has anyone."

"I hope we get to go. That would be so much fun!"

"Yeah," Brie agreed, smiling. "It would."


	10. The Nutcracker

The remaining days of November passed, in which Troy Jr. and Brie turned twelve, and a few days in December had gone by. The first two Nutcracker performances were over with, but the biggest one still remained. The one that would determine whether or not Brie would get a chance to have ballet training in New York.

"I'm so nervous," Brie told Abbie in the gym, where all the ballet performers was waiting to go on stage, as she pulled her white tulle tutu over her leotard. To avoid having to completely change outfits between dances, the ballet students all had to come wearing a solid colored leotard so they could just slip their tutus, skirts, or pants on and off.

"Me, too," Abbie agreed. "I just keep telling myself, 'Do not mess up, do not mess up.'"

"Same with me." Brie grabbed her lipstick, blush, mascara and eye shadow then announced, "I gotta go in the bathroom and put on my make-up before Dolls and Soldiers starts. I'll be back here in a minute."

"Okay."

* * *

"Alright," Miss Emmy called out. "All girls in Dolls and Soldiers, please go backstage now. The routine before yours just started."

"See you, Abbie." As she spoke, Brie began walking out of the gym. As much as she would like for it to be so, Abbie wasn't in that particular dance with her. However, she was in Tea.

"Bye, Brie. Good luck!" Abbie acknowledged.

Brie hurried through the hallways until she reached the door labeled 'backstage.' Rushing into it, she took a few deep breaths. _Just dance,_ she told herself. _Treat this like any other performance. It's not any different. Just dance._ _Just do-oh, I hear my cue to go on!_ Brie tiptoed out onto stage and struggled with the temptation to look at the audience to see how closely the New York City ballet members were watching her.

* * *

"Brie's doing really good," Gabriella whispered to Troy. They were both sitting in the audience with Troy Jr., Julliette, and Samantha.

"She must be following our advice," Troy returned, also in a whisper.

Gabriella smiled as she thought of what she and her husband had shared with their daughter the previous day.

Flashback

_"Mom, Dad, I'm so scared. I really want to make it in the ballet training program," Brie spoke. "I don't know why I'm scared, though. I was never nervous about a performance before. Ever._

_"You know," Gabriella began. "Your father felt the same way about dancing with me at our senior prom. He thought he would mess up, he thought he would have no idea how to dance....right Wildcat?"_

_Troy nodded. "Yeah, but then your mother sang a song while she was working on teaching me how to waltz so I could do it with her at prom. And in that song, she sang, 'Let the music be your guide.'"_

_Brie looked confused._

_"That means, don't be scared. Relax. Just listen to the music and dance," Gabriella explained. _

_"And I found out from playing basketball over the years that you shouldn't concentrate too hard," Troy added. "Just do it. I know it seems weird, but it works. I was always under pressure because your grandfather was my coach in high school and he basically forced me to be the best player on the team. For my freshman and sophomore years, I was always trying to think too hard. Then, I would mess up. But I decided in junior year to just try to relax, play, have fun. And that year my team ended up winning the high school championship game."_

_"Really?" Brie questioned, surprised._

_"Believe him, Brie," Gabriella said. "Because I was on the Decathlon team in high school. And I found that it I just did what I had to without overly paying attention to what I was doing, I did better than when I got myself all worked up by pressuring my mind with thoughts that I needed to win."_

_"I believe you," Brie decided after a moment. _

_"Some things come naturally to certain people," Gabriella continued. "I've seen you dance. Ballet is obviously your talent. Just go on stage and have fun."_

Flashback over

Troy put one of his arms around Gabriella and allowed her to rest his head against his shoulder.

"I think she has a good chance of getting to go to New York," Gabriella observed.

Troy nodded in agreement.

* * *

"I don't think I did bad," Brie told Abbie when she arrived back in the gym after her dance was over. "Hopefully I did good enough to get into the New York program, though."

"I'm sure you did," Abbie said, smiling.

"I don't know about that. I mean, there are girls en pointe who are in this show, too. And they're obviously more advanced than me. So I don't think I have that good of a chance of getting in."

"But they can't just pick girls who are en pointe. That would be unfair," Abbie pointed out. "They need to give everyone a fair chance."

"Well that's what they _should_ do, but what people should do isn't always what they do."

"Yeah, well hopefully they do what they should do, then."

* * *

"Brie, you're doing great so far!" Gabriella exclaimed, hugging her oldest daughter. It was intermission, and parents, siblings, and friends were allowed to enter the gym to talk with the dancers they knew.

"Thanks, Mom," Brie smiled, giving her mother a hug in return. "I just hope I'm doing good enough to get into the New York program. Because right now, that's my biggest dream."

Gabriella couldn't help but let out a sad sigh. Yes, she would be thrilled for her daughter of she got to dance under the instruction of professional ballerinas, but she wasn't looking forward to being apart from her all summer. She would be missing from the annual Independence Day celebration Sharpay always threw for her friends and family and she wouldn't be going on the Bolton's family vacation. Gabriella knew she was just being selfish about wanting Brie to stay in Albuquerque, and she was trying to push the feeling put of her head. A couple of nights ago, Troy had actually discussed the topic with her and made her feel slightly better about what was going on. After all, the world doesn't consult Gabriella Bolton every time it wants to do something.

Flashback

_"Gabby," Troy began. "I know that deep down inside, part of you doesn't want Brie to get to train for ballet in New York. Now I feel that I need to talk about that with you. Now I want you to be brave about it, and not get all upset. You're a strong person; I believe that you can handle anything."_

_"Wildcat, I don't know why I feel like this," Gabriella sighed._

_"You're sweet. You get attached to people you love and then you don't wanna let them go. But things change as time goes on. You can't stop the years from passing. Our kids are gonna get older and more independent. They are gonna need to follow their dreams, just like we followed ours. I know you don't like things to change like this, and to tell you the truth, I don't care for it, either. But it's life." As he spoke, Troy wrapped his arms around Gabriella. _

_"I know. But I just can't seem to get used to the fact that we have twelve-year-old kids already. I mean in six years they're gonna be adults, and very soon Brie's probably going to start getting interested in boys. Unfortunately, Troy already wants a girlfriend and he has girls all over him at school. I don't really care for that."_

_"Yeah. But they're both too young for dating now. They're not even teenagers yet."_

_"Though what happened on Halloween.....that proved that they can sneak around and trick us. I'm getting scared."_

_"Of what?"_

_"Everyone I love leaving me."_

_"Baby girl, I'll still be here for you. No matter what. I will."_

_"But time's passing. We're in our thirties. In a few decades, you might die. And when that happens, I won't have anything. Brie will be in a professional ballet company, Troy will be in the NBA, Julliette will probably be busy with her own family, Sam will be distracted with her scientist work, my mom will most likely not be alive, I don't have any siblings, my friends might be dead, too. Because with any luck I have, I'll be the last one out of you, me, Zeke, Sharpay, Ryan, Kelsi, Chad and Taylor to die."_

_"Precious Gabby, why does everything remind you of me dying?"_

_"I don't know. I guess I'm just afraid of being all alone."_

_"This is what I'm talking about. You need to be brave about the future. I hate to tell you this, but getting attached to people is your weakness. You get so attached, then you don't wanna let go. You don't wanna even try to move on. But you have to. I'm sorry to say this, honey, but you just do. Remember-it doesn't mean you have to forget the past forever, you just need to learn to concentrate on the future."_

_"Thanks for being honest with me. And I promise that I will try to change. I'll try to be okay with our kids getting older. I'll try to learn to live without being surrounded by my family and friends. And I think I'll be alright. But just, I won't be alright without you. There's no way."_

_"Don't worry about losing me for now. That's still a long way off."_

Flashback over

"I hope you get in," Troy told his daughter.

"Thanks, Dad," Brie said.

* * *

Brie put a pair of silky pants and a matching wrap top with a ribbon belt over her leotard. This was her costume for Tea. Again, like with Dolls and Soldiers, she felt nervous about going on stage.

"I'm ready to go on stage....I guess," Abbie announced, walking up to Brie.

"Yeah, me, too," Brie told her friend.

"Wait!" Abbie exclaimed suddenly. "Do I look like I have enough make-up on?"

Brie nodded. "Yeah. The amount looks perfect!"

"Okay, everyone who's in Tea, please go backstage right now," Miss Emmy called.

"Let's go," Brie spoke.

* * *

The snow ended and the New York Ballet Company members walked onto stage. "Okay," one of them started. "While this show has been going on, we've been observing each dancer carefully. And we think we have our four chosen to train with us over the summer."

The other ballerina then took over with the talking. "The first girl is Jessica Lansing."

Jessica, who was backstage along with all the other students in the dance school, appeared on stage. On her face, she had an 'I knew it' look.

"And next is Lacey Summers."

A girl who had on white pointe shoes came to stand next to Jessica.

"The third girl is Gina Smithson."

Another ballerina with pointe shoes came onto the stage.

"And the fourth one is," the dancer began.

_Please say my name. Please_, Brie begged silently from backstage.


	11. Results and a Snow Day

**NOTE: I know a few of you that are reading my story were asking for a quicker update, and I sincerely apologize for making you-and everyone else who's reading this-wait to see what happens next...especially after I made that cliff hanger at the end of my last chapter. I just want to explain why I couldn't update sooner. **

**1. A huge science project for school**

**2. Dance practice**

**3. My computer had a problem with it**

**4. I had to update Two and a Half Weeks (my other story that's in progress)**

**My computer is now fixed, and my project is done, so I should be able to update quicker. However, dance is still making me really busy and I need to do my other story, too. But I promise you all that I'm doing the best I can to get these chapters out. So again, I apologize for this wait. I hope you understand why I couldn't update sooner! Thanks for being patient and also thanks for reading and/or reviewing this story! Hope I made this chapter worth the wait.....if it's not, feel free to be mad at me.**

* * *

"Brie Bolton."

Brie, excited, skipped onto stage, a huge smile on her face. She had gotten in! She was going to New York! She was going to be trained by professional ballerinas!

One of the dancers handed out a pamphlet containing information about the ballet training to each of the girls who were on stage. "You can look these over," she began. "And then have your parents call the phone number that's inside of them sometime before January is over to confirm your spot in our program. We congratulate you all on making it into this."

Everyone in the audience clapped and cheered. Well, all of them except Gabriella, who had her face buried in Troy's shoulder and was letting both happy and sad tears flow from her eyes.

"It'll be alright," Troy comforted, pulling Gabriella into a hug and kissing the top of her head. "Everything will be okay. Remember what we talked about? About you being brave and being able to accept the fact that our kids aren't babies anymore?"

"Y-Yes. B-But I-I'm gonna m-miss her," Gabriella sobbed. "T-Though I a-am s-so v-very happy s-she got i-in."

"Mommy, why are you crying?" Julliette wondered, noticing that her mother didn't look happy like everyone else around them did.

Gabriella wriggled out of Troy's arms and hugged her youngest daughter. "You won't grow up on me too fast, will you?" she asked, forcing herself to stop crying.

Julliette hugged Gabriella back. "I can't help how fast I grow. But even when I'm a mommy like you are, I'll still love you and I'll come over and visit you every week! You're the best mommy in the world!" Then, she went over to Troy and threw her arms around him. "And you're the best daddy!"

"Are you okay, Mom?" Samantha questioned.

Gabriella nodded. "Yeah, I'm fine."

"What happened?" Troy Jr. wanted to know.

"You kids are growing up too fast," came Gabriella's gentle reply.

* * *

That night when Troy and Gabriella were in bed, Gabriella asked, "Do you think I'm being too selfish to want Brie to stay here instead of going to New York?"

"No, you're not being selfish. You're just worried. It's normal, so try not to worry about it," Troy answered, wrapping Gabriella up in his arms and kissing her forehead.

Gabriella let out a soft sigh. "I'm trying to get over this fear. I really am."

"I know you are. And I'm proud of you." As he spoke, Troy kissed Gabriella's lips.

Gabriella smiled and kissed Troy back. When she was finished, she told Troy, "I can't sleep. I'm too worried about Brie going away."

"Try, honey. Okay? You need to close your eyes and get some rest. We have work tomorrow."

"I'm not gonna be able to."

"How do you know? You didn't even try, baby girl. Now just snuggle against me, get warm and comfy, then think happy thoughts. Before you know it, you'll be fast asleep."

"I don't know about that."

"Alright. If you really think you can't sleep, then why don't we go downstairs and watch a movie or something?" Troy suggested.

"Okay. I guess we could do that," Gabriella agreed.

* * *

"Mom, are you mad that I got into the New York ballet program?" Brie questioned the next evening at the dinner table.

"No, Brie. I'm not," Gabriella replied. "I just have to get used to the idea of you leaving home for the summer."

"But I can tell you're not happy. Every time I mention it, you try to change the subject. It's like you don't even wanna think about it. It's like you don't even care," Brie protested.

"I do care. I'm just not good at being separated from people I'm close to. But I promise you that I'm trying to get over that weakness. And I am glad you got in," Gabriella told her daughter.

Brie looked her mother right in the eyes. "You're lying," she accused, a slight sound of harshness in her voice. "You don't care about what I wanna do. You want my life to be just like yours. Fall in love, get married, have thousands of kids, and be stuck at home all day when they're babies because they can't be alone. You want me to get a job like yours, you don't want me to be a professional-and maybe famous-ballerina. I get it. But I need to tell you that I'm not doing what you want me to do. I'm not letting you plan out my life."

"Brie Anne Bolton!" Troy spoke sternly. "Stop this! You're being disrespectful!"

"Don't call me that!" Brie snapped. "I'm not a Bolton anymore. Not if this is the ridiculous way Boltons are!"

"Go to you room!" Troy yelled. "And don't come out until you're ready to be pleasant again!"

"I don't have to listen to you anymore! If I'm not a Bolton, which I refuse to be now, you're not my father!"

"Nothing will change the fact that you're part of this family," Troy pointed out. "And I'll always be your father. You can't do anything to change that."

"No, you're not my father. If you were, you wouldn't be defending my stupid mother who, by the way, is not my mother anymore."

Gabriella began to cry. Getting out of her chair, she hurried upstairs and into her and Troy's bedroom, where she flung herself on their bed.

"Look what you did. You made your mom cry!" Troy exclaimed angrily. "You kids all know she's sensitive and yet you go and hurt her feelings-and break her heart. Well, Julliette and Sam don't. But you and Troy are like how Mr. Evans and Mrs. Baylor were in high school-rude."

"You know what? You're rude!" Brie spoke. "And selfish!"

Troy got up from the table and walked over to the stairs. "I need to get out of this room."

"Daddy! I'm scared!" Julliette whimpered. "I don't like fights!"

"Come here," Troy instructed his youngest daughter gently.

"Do you wanna go somewhere that's not crazy?" Troy Jr. asked Samantha. "I'm getting tired of this."

"Sure," Samantha replied.

Troy Jr. and Samantha both got out of their seats and left the room, leaving Brie all alone.

"Daddy, will you make this stop?" Julliette wondered as she ran over to Troy and hugged him. She then began to cry. "I-I'm s-so s-scared."

Troy lifted Julliette off the ground and into his arms. "Let's go upstairs and see your mommy." He began going up the stairs. When he got to the top of them, he walked through the hallway until he reached the master bedroom, which he stepped into. Immediately, he noticed his wife lying on the bed crying. Going over to her, he sat down, allowing Julliette to sit in his lap, and started rubbing her back. "It'll be okay," he comforted.

Gabriella pulled herself into a sitting position and snuggled against Troy's side, resting her cheek on his shoulder. She then let herself wrap her arms around him.

Julliette looked at her mother. "I-I g-got s-so s-scared."

"I-I know. T-This i-is s-scary for e-everyone," Gabriella told her daughter.

Julliette began hugging Troy. "D-Daddy's g-gonna try t-to make i-it b-better. B-But if he c-can't, I-I d-don't k-know what w-we're g-gonna d-do."

Troy pressed a kiss onto his wife's nose, then one on his daughter's head. "Everything's gonna turn out alright."

* * *

"Troy, you were right when you got mad at Mom and Dad about dating Sadie," Brie began as she walked up to her brother and Samantha. "Because our parents aren't really the best people in the world."

"Don't say that, Brie!" Samantha exclaimed. "Mom and Dad are wonderful!"

"No, they aren't. They want what's not best for me."

"I don't think those kind of things about them anymore," Troy Jr. told his sister. "I now understand that I'm not the only person in Dad's life and that he has a right to spend time with Mom or anyone else he wants to. And I understand that Mom just does stuff because she cares about me."

"Why is everyone turning against me? Don't you get what's happening?" Brie began to sob. "I-I d-don't w-wanna h-have m-my w-whole l-life p-planned o-out f-for m-me. I-I n-need t-to b-be a b-ballerina. I-It's w-what's b-best. I-I r-really w-wanna d-do it b-but M-Mom h-hates t-the w-whole i-idea. S-She w-was e-excited f-for m-me w-when I-I f-first t-told h-her a-about t-the o-offer. T-This i-is w-why I-Id-don't w-wanna b-be a B-Bolton a-anymore. T-They're n-not n-nice. I-I m-mean, t-they a-act a-all n-nice, then t-they j-just g-go and t-turn o-on y-you."

"Maybe you should try talking this out with Mom," Samantha suggested.

"S-She w-won't l-listen."

* * *

Nighttime came. Julliette, who was still upset, had insisted on sleeping with Troy and Gabriella in their bed instead of in her own. However, it was very crowded, especially to Troy, who was squeezed in between Gabriella, who was clinging to him and allowing her head to rest on his chest, and Julliette, who was right up against him do that she wasn't so close to the edge of the bed.

"Good night," Troy said, giving Gabriella a kiss on the lips and Julliette a kiss on the forehead.

"Good night, Wildcat," Gabriella returned, snuggling into her husband and closing her eyes.

"Good night, Daddy," Julliette acknowledged.

"It's really crowded in here," Troy commented. "Julliette, do you need to be in this bed with Mommy and I or can you go back in your own room?"

"I'm still upset about the fight," Julliette replied.

"Alright," Troy sighed, pulling the covers onto Gabriella more than they already were, then wrapping his arms around her body. "Are you gonna be able to sleep tonight or is it gonna end up like last night?" he questioned.

"I think I'll be able to sleep. I'm really tired," Gabriella answered.

"Okay. Well you just try your best. I love you, baby girl."

"Love you, too."

* * *

The next morning, the Boltons woke up to find that a thick layer of snow was covering their yard and driveway.

"Is school cancelled?" Troy Jr. asked anxiously as he appeared in the living room where the rest of the family, excluding Brie, was sitting and watching the news' school closings.

"Yup," Troy responded. "It is."

"Yes!" Troy Jr. shouted.

"I'm happy about it, too," Gabriella told her son. "I'm looking forward to not having to get ready at all today. I rarely get to do that. And guess what? We have some hot chocolate. I can make some for all of us and we could drink it while watching a movie, sound good? And then after we can finally have a family reading time."

"Can I skip the reading part?" Troy questioned.

"Wildcat, there has to be _something_ you would be interested in reading," Gabriella told her husband. "Come on; let's go look at the books I have in our room."

At that moment, Brie came into the room, still wearing her pajamas. Apparently she had somehow gotten the idea that school was cancelled. "I need to apologize," she announced.

Everyone looked at Brie.

"I was being really mean yesterday. I totally lost control of myself. I didn't mean most of the things I said, especially the things about not being a Bolton anymore. I really was just angry and words that I didn't wanna say came out. But I love you all; I promise I couldn't ask for a better family. Please forgive me."

"I will," everyone acknowledged.

"Thank you." Brie then went to each member of her family and hugged them. When she came to Gabriella, she began, "I'm sorry if you don't want me to do the ballet program."

"Brie, I do," Gabriella smiled. "It's just that I'll miss you a lot. But if this is something you really wanna do and if it's that important to you, then I want you to do it."

"Thanks."

"You're welcome." Gabriella then turned to Troy. "Alright, Wildcat. Let's go look for an interesting book for you to read now."

Troy gave Gabriella a slightly annoyed yet completely loving look. "Okay."

"Why are you looking for a book?" Brie questioned.

"We're gonna have family reading time later today. And a movie time," Troy explained.

"Oh."

"So I need to find a book your father will read," Gabriella added as she grabbed Troy's hand and led him upstairs, then into the master bedroom, where she gently pulled him over to all her books, which were lined up neatly on a small bookshelf. "Let's see. What genre do you think would interest you? I mean, I mostly have romance novels, but I have a few different ones, too."

"Um....how about sports?"

"Sports isn't a genre, Wildcat. It's a topic."

"But Gabby, it's pretty much my only interest. Besides you and the kids." As he spoke, he pulled a book from the bookshelf. "Oh, look! Here's Troy's baby book. I'll read that."

"Wildcat, baby books don't count."

Troy opened the book and showed Gabriella their son's handprints and footprints that had been taken at the hospital not long after he was born. "Honey, look at this."

"Aw, they're so tiny!" Gabriella exclaimed. "I can't believe twelve years has passed since he was a baby."

"Me neither," Troy agreed. "It seems like just last week I was rushing you to the hospital in the middle of the night because our twins were about to be born."

"I know. Now, let's find a book for you to read. And please cooperate."

Troy put the baby book away, then asked, "What are you gonna make me read?"

Gabriella glanced at all the books on the shelf. "How about......"

"How about what?" Troy wanted to know.

"A book from when the kids were toddlers. My First Book of Bedtime Stories. Wanna read that?"

"Gabby, I'm not a little kid."

"I was joking!"

"You're silly, my love, you know that?"

"Wildcat, stop trying to change the subject! We kind of have to be serious with this!"

"I am." Troy then caught sight of the East High senior year yearbook that was lying on the floor on top of a whole pile of yearbooks. Grabbing it, he announced, "I'll read this. It has someone really cute in it, so I'll love it!"

"You know, for when we read I was planning on sitting right next to you, so you won't need a picture to see what I look like."

"I have an idea! How about just the kids read while we take a hot bath together. Please? We haven't taken a bath in so long, baby girl. I miss it."

"That would be something to do when we have 'us' time, not family time. So we can do that after the kids go to bed tonight. I promise you we will. But for now you really need to pick out a book to read. A _real_ book."

Troy started kissing Gabriella on the lips. "I love you," he murmured.

"Love you, too," Gabriella returned, kissing Troy back. "But that isn't gonna bribe me into letting you not read."

"Gabby....."

* * *

"Alright, the hot chocolate's ready!" Gabriella called from the kitchen, where she had just been making six cups of hot chocolate.

Troy Jr., Samantha, Brie, and Julliette, all hurried into the kitchen.

"You can take whatever cup you want," Gabriella told all the kids. Then, realizing Troy wasn't there, she called, "Wildcat! Where are you? Come here!"

As Gabriella finished speaking, Troy appeared in the kitchen. "I'm right here. Are we gonna watch a movie now?"

Gabriella nodded and handed Troy a cup of hot chocolate. "Here you go." She then grabbed the remaining hot chocolate cup as she allowed Troy to take her hand and lead her into the living room.

"What movie are we watching?" Troy Jr. asked.

"A Christmas Carol-since it's almost Christmas," Gabriella replied. "And that's what book you're reading this afternoon, Wildcat," she added, looking at her husband. "It's a good story. You'll love it."

"Precious Gabby," Troy began.

"A Christmas Carol is a short story! It's only about ninety pages."

"That's ninety pages too many," Troy complained.

"Wildcat. I want you to stop complaining. You can cuddle me while we read; but only if you stop pouting about this. It's getting to be a bit riduculous."

Troy sat down on the sofa. "I hate to read. You know that."

Gabriella walked over to the DVD player and placed the A Christmas Carol DVD inside of it before pressing the button to play it. Then, she went over to Troy and sat next to him. "You're crazy."

"You're crazier, my love," Troy disagreed gently.

"The movie's starting!" Julliette told everyone. "So Mommy and Daddy, can you please not talk during it?"

"We'll be quiet starting right now," Gabriella promised.

* * *

"Okay, let's read now," Gabriella said as the ending credits of the movie appeared on the TV screen. "And here's rules we need-well they're pretty much rules for you." She pointed at Troy.

"There's _rules_?" Honey, this isn't a game!"

"We all need to be quiet in consideration of each other and read for at least half an hour as a family. Okay, Wildcat?"

Troy pulled Gabriella into a hug and pressed a kiss onto her cheek. "You're silly, yet sweet. And I love you for it."

Gabriella let out a giggle as she snuggled into Troy, allowing her head to rest on his shoulder. "You're crazy. But also loving and affectionate. I love you, too."

"I'm gonna go get my Warriors book," Samantha announced.

"I'm gonna get mine, too," Troy Jr. told everyone.

Brie and Julliette also decided to get their books, so they followed Troy Jr. and Samantha, who were already walking out of the room.

"Come on, Wildcat. Let's go get our books," Gabriella suggested.

* * *

Everyone was in the living room reading. Troy and Gabriella were snuggled up together on the sofa, Samantha and Troy Jr. were leaning against the sofa while sitting on the carpeted floor, Brie was sitting in a chair, and Julliette was on the part of the sofa her parents weren't occupying.

"I love you," Troy murmured suddenly, leaning over to place a kiss on Gabriella's cheek, then her lips.

"Shhh. You need to be quiet," Gabriella told her husband after returning his kiss. "Everyone's trying to read."

"How much time is left?"

"Look at the clock."

Troy turned so that he could catch a glimpse of the clock that was on the wall. It showed him that only five minutes had passed since the family reading time began. Sighing, he tried to pay attention to his book again. But he just couldn't. So he decided to give Gabriella another kiss.

"Troy! Why do you keep trying to kiss me?" Gabriella questioned.

"I love you," Troy responded.

"Well I love you, too, but can you please try to pay attention to the book and not to me?"

"I can't help it. You're so beautiful."

"Julliette," Gabriella began.

Julliette faced her mother.

"Can you please sit next to Daddy and I can sit where you're sitting? Because Daddy's being slightly disruptive toward me."

"Okay," Julliette agreed.

* * *

"So, was reading today _that_ awful?" Gabriella asked Troy that night when they were relaxing in the bathtub. Even though he had been being very stubborn that afternoon, she had still kept her promise to take a bath with him.

"Not as bad as it could have been, but bad enough," Troy answered, pulling Gabriella over to him and positioning her so that she was sitting in between his legs. He then wrapped his arms loosely around her, letting them go just a tiny bit underneath her shoulders.

Gabriella snuggled against Troy's chest. "How far did you get in the book?"

"To page six."

"Page six? Wildcat, I got to page thirty in my book! Troy even got more than ten pages read!"

"How do you know he did?"

"Because I saw him turn a page of his book at least fifteen times."

Troy nuzzled his wife's wet shoulder. "You are too smart, my love," he told her.

Gabriella smiled happily and closed her eyes, allowing herself to relax a little. Before she knew it, she was asleep.

"Gabby," Troy whispered in Gabriella's ear, checking to see if she was awake or not.

No response came.

Troy, deciding that Gabriella was asleep, let his head fall on top of hers. It wasn't long before he was sleeping along with her.

* * *

**Oh, I have a baby name poll up on my profile. Please vote in it if you didn't already!**


	12. A Convention and Gabriella's Birthday

Gabriella opened her eyes to find herself surrounded by cold water. After a moment, she remembered what had happened. She and, apparently, Troy, had fallen asleep while taking a hot bath. Only over the time that had passed the water had changed from hot to cold.

"Wildcat?" Gabriella whispered, twisting her body a little bit so she could face her husband, who was still sleeping right behind her, positioned in the same position he had been in when she had fallen asleep.

Troy didn't respond.

Gabriella carefully laid one of her hands on Troy's shoulder and shook him gently. "Wildcat?" she repeated. "Wake up, please."

Troy's eyes opened slowly. "Gabby?" he groaned.

"We fell asleep while taking a bath," Gabriella said.

Troy looked around at where he was. Suddenly, he became fully awake and alert. "What time is it? Are we late for work? Oh, the last thing we need is to get fired. And this water is freezing! Come on, baby girl, let's get out of here, dry off, go in our room, get some clothes on and sleep again-if it's not already time for us to go to work."

Gabriella stood up and got out of the tub, shivering. "I hate the winter. It's too cold."

"I know," Troy murmured sympathetically as he followed his wife, then went to the closet to grab two towels,. One he kept for himself, and the other he gave to Gabriella. "Are you still tired?" he wondered.

Gabriella nodded. "Very."

"Yeah, me, too. Hopefully we still have some time to sleep before we have to get ready for work."

Gabriella yawned as she nodded in agreement while she finished up drying off and wrapped her towel around her. "I'm ready."

Troy, who was already done drying himself, pressed a kiss onto his wife's cheek, then led her out of the bathroom and into the master bedroom, where he shut them both in.

"It's three in the morning," Gabriella announced, glancing at the clock.

"We have three hours for sleeping, then."

"I know." As she spoke, Gabriella opened the clothes closet, grabbed one of Troy's shirts, and slipped it on as she let her towel slide off of her. After that, she climbed into bed.

Troy, after throwing on some shorts, laid next to Gabriella and wrapped his arms around her. "Good night, my love."

"Good night," Gabriella returned. "I love you."

"Love you, too."

* * *

"Can I talk to you about something, baby girl?" Troy requested that afternoon after he and Gabriella were home from work.

"Of course," Gabriella, who was in the kitchen deciding on something to have for dinner that night, answered cheerfully. "Let's go sit in the living room.

Troy followed his wife into the living room and over to the sofa, where he sat down next to her. "So, I got a message today that this weekend-the weekend of your birthday, there's a big coaches' convention for all the coaches in Northern New Mexico. And the whole thing is in Farmington. For the entire weekend. I have to leave Friday afternoon after school's over for the day and I can't come home until Sunday night. On my break I called the man organizing the convention, and he said there's no way I can get out of it unless I wanna lose my job. Apparently it was called to discuss some serious topic."

"Wildcat-" Gabriella began.

"It's gonna be okay. I was about to suggest we ask Zeke and Sharpay to let the kids stay at their house for that weekend while you come with me. The convention is Saturday from noon to four, then Sunday from eleven to three. That would leave us time to go out to dinner, watch movies, whatever we want. So what do you think?"

Gabriella smiled as she breathed a sigh of relief. She had been nervous that she would have to be without Troy for a couple days. "Of course I'll go with you. And I trust Zeke and Sharpay to watch our children for the weekend and not let get into too much trouble."

"And since your birthday's Sunday, we'll be at home that evening, so if you wanna have birthday cake with the kids, we would have time for it."

Gabriella hugged Troy. "You think of everything."

* * *

"Mommy," Julliette began as she walked toward her mother. She had just gotten home from school a minute ago.

"Yeah?" Gabriella acknowledged.

"Mrs. Jenson said I need to go to the eye doctor because I was having trouble seeing the addition problems on the whiteboard today." Mrs. Jenson was Julliette's teacher.

"Really?" Gabriella checked.

Julliette nodded.

"Does stuff that's far away look a little blurry to you or is it clear?"

"Sometimes it can look a little blurry."

"Right now, can you see me alright?"

Julliette nodded. "Yeah. I can. It's just things that are far away that look a little blurry. But I guess I thought seeing things like that was normal because it's just how I always remembered being able to see."

"Yeah, I understand what you mean. Well I'll have to call the eye doctor and schedule an appointment for you. You'll probably need to get a pair of glasses."

Julliette smiled. "Glasses? I've always wanted those! I want ones with a blue frame-then they could match my eyes! I'm so excited!" She then ran out of the room shouting, "Daddy! Brie! Troy! Sam! I'm gonna get glasses!"

Gabriella let out a slight, amused giggle. _She's happy about the glasses now, but once she gets them, she'll realize that they're not fun at all._

Gabriella had worn glasses when she was in elementary school. Her eyesight hadn't been too bad and after a while, wearing the glasses had corrected the problem. However, she had always been teased by the other kids for being a 'four-eyed nerd'. After she didn't need them anymore, she had thrown them out and never told anyone-except for Troy-that she had needed them at a time.

* * *

Troy and Gabriella got into Troy's car after dropping the kids-all except for Samantha, who had needed to go back to her birth parents' house-at the Baylors' place. It was now Friday, and time to leave for the coaches' convention.

"I brought books to read while you're at the convention," Gabriella informed Troy. "Just so I have something to do."

"Great! Though just to let you know now, I promise that every spare moment I have will be spent with you. I have a whole list in my head of things to do," Troy spoke.

"Like what?" Gabriella wanted to know.

"Well I brought some movies with me-Bedtime Stories, Tooth Fairy, Mall Cop, our recorded musicals from high school-and I looked up restaurants we can eat at and stores we can go to. And, of course, we still need to work on having another baby with each other."

Gabriella giggled at the last thing on Troy's list. He was right-they really did need to try to have another child together. Even since Gabriella had told Troy she wanted one on his birthday, they had spent night after night trying, but always with a negative result, which disappointed both of them.

"I really hope you do have another baby," Troy told Gabriella.

"Me, too. I've already been thinking of names for both boys and girls."

"Really? Wow, you're getting kind of ahead. What names were you thinking of?"

"Well for a girl, I like Kacie, Alyson, and Madison, and for a boy I like Nathan, Daniel, and Matthew. What do you think?"

"They're all good names. But I think you'd better wait until you're actually pregnant to start picking the names you would want the most for a girl and a boy."

"I am," Gabriella assured her husband. "I really hope I get pregnant soon, though. Before I'm too old to have kids."

"You won't be too old for a long time, yet, honey. I'm sure you'll be able to have at least one more baby."

"I wanna try to have one by the time I'm thirty-four, which is in a year and a couple days."

"And I'm sure you will," Troy smiled.

* * *

Troy and Gabriella stepped out of Troy's car after parking in a parking lot belonging to Farmington Hotel,which was a very large building with a fountain in its grassy yard. Somehow, apparently, Farmington had escaped the snowstorm that had swept through Albuquerque and other parts of new Mexico earlier in the week.

"Hey, Bolton," called an unpleasant voice behind Troy and Gabriella.

Troy and Gabriella both turned around to see Bill Chessman, the coach of the West High Knights, coming toward them. Bill was currently in his sixties, and he had been coaching the Knights ever since before Troy was in high school and playing for the Wildcats.

"Bolton, talk to me," Bill ordered.

"Hey, Bill, um....how are you?" Troy greeted nervously.

"Who's the lady with you?" Bill demanded. If that's your wife, you're an idiot. This whole conference is suppsoed to be an opportunity for men to get away from their wives. I mean, who wants some woman stalking them full time? I'm thankful for this alone time, and to tell you the truth, I wouldn't care if I never saw my wife again."

"Yes, this is my wife," Troy told the West High coach firmly, wrapping one of his arms protectively around Gabriella. "And you don't like your wife because she was a former head cheerleader. You just married her because of the common infatuation basketball players seem to have for head cheerleaders. You don't know what it's really like to be in love."

"Listen, moron. You're young and ignorant. I'm old and wise. And I know that out of all the coaches that are coming to this convention, you're gonna be the misfit. You married a nerd, you're not an NBA reject. Ever since you graduated I have referred to you as 'the kid who abandoned the NBA for a worthless girl.'"

"Yeah, well maybe I did, but at least I'm happy. And just to let you know, my wife's not worthless and my family is normal-unlike yours. I know who your sons and daughters are. They're all former basketball players and cheerleaders. They're all married to head cheerleaders and basketball players. Your boys are waiting for a high school coach to retire so they can jump into his place. And why are they like that? Because you brainwashed them into thinking that's the only way for a person to live. I don't-and will never-do that. My kids will be who they are, and nothing else. When they're older, my wife and I are gonna tell them not to marry someone unless they really love them."

"And I'm sure your family consits of nerds and other odd people like goths."

"What? My family isn't goth. I don't know where you got that from."

"Just a thought. And another thing I wanna tell you-after the convention is over tomorrow, there's a coaches' only party. With lots of alcohol. And cigarettes, if you like to smoke. And even R-rated films with nice looking women in them. Seriously. I've seen all the movies and the girls all have the best looking bodies I've ever seen."

"I would NEVER cheat on my wife. Or drink until I was drunk. And I hate the small of cigarettes. Maybe stuff like that is what 'normal' coaches do, but not me. I have no desire to look at strange women."

"You're really odd, Bolton. Watching a movie like that isn't cheating on your wife! Everyone knows that!"

"Maybe to you it's not, but to me it is. And I do what I think is right. Count me out of that party. I'm spending time with my wife, instead. Like a normal person. Anyway, her birthday's coming this Sunday and she needs to feel special."

"This is why no one brings their wives to these things!"

Troy released his grip on Gabriella and started to get their overnight bags from the car. "Come on, baby girl. Let's check into our room."

Gabriella happily followed Troy into the hotel, where they checked in. She then walked by his side as they went to find the room they were to stay in. Once they found it, they hurried inside, shutting the door behind them and placing their bags in a corner.

"So, what do you wanna do tonight?" Troy asked.

"Relax," came Gabriella's reply. "And watch one of the movies you brought. And for dinner maybe we could just go through the drive through at a McDonalds'. I'm really tired from the long drive up here, so I don't really feel like going to a regular restaurant, you know, the ones with waitresses and all."

Troy nodded in understanding. "Yeah, same here. I agree with your plan, too. It sounds nice."

Gabriella smiled and glanced at the clock that was in the room. "It's six. Do you wanna go get dinner now or later?"

"I guess we could go now," Troy replied.

As Gabriella began walking over to the door of her and Troy's room, she said, "Wildcat, thanks for standing up for me. And also, thanks for not going to that party. I knew you wouldn't go. You're the best husband anyone could ask for."

Troy followed his wife, kissing her cheek when he caught up with her. "I love you," he whispered.

"Love you, too," Gabriella returned.

* * *

"Julliette!" yelled James, running up to his friend, who was sitting in the chair that was in the guest room that had been assigned to her, reading the book she had to read for homework. The Baylors had four guest rooms, so there was more than enough for each of the Bolton kids to have their own.

"Yeah?" Julliette responded, sounding much calmer than James.

"I just wanted to know if you wanted to go outside and play in the snow with me."

"Okay!" Julliette agreed, jumping up from her seat. "Let's go!"

James led Julliette down one of the two staircases in the house, then into the living room, where he opened the coat closet, which was almost too big to be called a closet. "You can get your coat and stuff out of there, I'll get mine, then we can go out and play!"

"James, where are you and Julliette going?" Zeke questioned as he came into the room and saw the two kids getting ready to go somewhere.

"Outside to play in the snow," James replied, looking up at his father with his deep brown eyes.

"Alright. Don't go too far from the house, okay? Mom's upstairs resting and I need to make some brownies for Dessert Delights, so neither of us can come out to keep an eye on you. So I need you to listen. And another thing-stay together." Dessert Delights was the name of the dessert shop Zeke worked for. Due to the snowstorm, they had gotten behind on their baking, so all the workers had to make some things at home.

"Mom's resting _again_? She's always resting!"

"Well she's gonna be having your new little brother in a little while, and that's making her tired." Just a week ago, Sharpay had found out she was having another boy.

"Oh. You know, I can't wait for my brother! I don't like being the only kid in the house. It's boring."

Zeke laughed. "Yeah, I was the oldest out of my sister and brother, too. And it can get boring being all by yourself. But don't worry; soon there will be a baby in the house."

"Hey, Mr. Baylor, mind if I watch the Warriors' game?" Troy Jr. asked as he entered the room.

"No, go ahead. I have to make brownies and Mrs. Baylor's resting, so go ahead. Anyway, we have four TV's in the house, so if anyone wants to watch something else, they can use a different TV than you."

"Okay," Troy Jr. acknowleded, walking over to the remote control and turning on the TV.

"Troy," Zeke began.

"Yeah?"

"Where's Brie?"

"Practicing ballet in her room."

"Alright. Just wondering."

* * *

"See you later, baby girl," Troy told Gabriella, as he placed a kiss onto her lips. The night had passed, and the next day had come. It was time for Troy to get going to the first day of the convention.

"See you, Wildcat," Gabriella returned, along with the kiss. After that, she reached for Emma, the book she was reading at that moment.

"Love you. Enjoy your book."

"Love you, too. I'm positive I'll enjoy my book. You enjoy your convention, too. And good luck with Bill."

"Thanks." Troy left the hotel room and went down to the convention room of the same building, where the coaches' convention was to be held. When he entered it, he saw a bunch of men standing in a circle talking about the party that was going to be that night. Not desiring to be part of an inappropriate scheme, he sat down in one of the many chairs in the room and, in a bored way, crossed his arms over his chest.

"Okay, let's get started!" a tall, dark-haired man announced as he broke away from the large group he had been standing with. "Everyone grab a seat!"

All the coaches who had been talking quickly sat down, making sure to stay far away from Troy, whom Bill had all gotten them to think of as the 'idiot misfit' of the convention.

Troy slouched in his seat, feeling uncomfortable about the situation. Now he knew what Gabriella had to go through for sixteen years of life. That made him feel even sorrier for her than he had before.

"Okay. I'm Denny," the coach who had called the meeting introduced. "Most of you know me. Now to start things off, I want each of you to say your name, what age you started playing basketball at, and why the NBA rejected you when you tried out for it."

The coaches all took turns telling the desired information. When it was Troy's turn, he started, "Um....I'm Troy Bolton. I um...started basketball at age six-in first grade-and I never tried out for the NBA."

The other coaches were surprised-and mean-about the last fact Troy had given.

"Idiot!"

"Moron!"

"Okay, everyone. That's enough. We're wasting time here," Denny interrupted. "Now, we're gonna go around the room again and now everyone can say what they hate about their wives and each of their kids. Because we know everyone here-except for one-has come here to get away from those people." As he said 'except for one', he glared at Troy.

After the other coaches ranted on and on about how their wives don't cook good enough, they whine a lot, they're too clingy and dependant, and that their kids are too short, too fat, and need glasses which 'ruin' their appearance as a jock or cheerleader, it was Troy's turn to talk again.

"Well, I don't hate anything about my wife," Troy began confidently. He wasn't afraid of the coaches' reaction at all. Loving Gabriella was not at all something to be embarrassed about. "And I don't hate anything about my kids, either."

"You have to hate _something _about all of them," one of the coaches told Troy rudely.

"No, I don't. I love my wife more and more every day and my kids I love, too. My family always has and always will be the most important thing to me."

"You know, your kids come from your wife, and you _need_ to hate something about her, which means you also have to hate something about your kids," Bill said, treating Troy like he was stupid.

"I know that. And that's _why_ I love them. What I wanna ask all you now, is why you married someone you didn't even love. And why you even bothered to have kids with her."

All the coaches were silent. None of them knew how to answer that.

"You know, are we actually gonna discuss something serious?" Troy wanted to know. "Because if we aren't, I'm just gonna go back to my wife. She loves me for not joining the NBA, and is nicer than all of you."

"We're gonna talk about serious stuff," Denny answered. "Right now. And then when we're done with that, we'll talk more about our lives. Then, you can come back here tonight for the best party ever."

"Well when we're done with the serious things, I'm leaving. And I won't be coming to the party. I heard it's a drinking one, and I don't get drunk. I also heard about the R-rated movies, and I'm not watching those. It would be cheating on my wife."

"Wow. You're that commited to your wife? To the point where you can't even have any fun? That's just stupid."

"You can say I'm stupid and make fun of me for the rest of my life. But I love my wife too much to care about your opinions. Now are we gonna start this meeting?"

"Okay, yeah, sure. Alright. Now people think us coaches aren't as good today as they were thirty years ago. We need to find a way to improve that. So first of all, let's go over all the rules of the game. Maybe someone, Bolton, doesn't know the game very well."

Troy looked away from Denny's unfriendly stare.

Denny ignored Troy's actions and began explaining the game of basketball. When he was finished, he announced, "It is now time to see which schools had the top coaching reviews and which had the lowest." He then grabbed a paper from the table that was in front of him and looked at it, his mouth opening in shock as he did. "There must be some mistake. It says East High's coaching was reported as best. But how? Since Bolton started doing the job, the Wildcats have only won three championships."

"Maybe whoever typed the paper up meant to put 'West High', not 'East High,'" Bill suggested. "Because we all know Bolton is too gentle with his team. He encourages all the guys on it to have fun instead of win. And we all know winning is everything. I yell at my team for weeks if they lose a championship game."

"And here's another odd thing," Denny continued. "West High got the most negative reviews. There must be some serious mistake here. I don't think Bolton has what it takes to be a coach. He's not agressive enough, tall enough, strict enough. Right, everyone?"

All the coaches nodded, well, all except for Troy, who's feelings were severly damaged by Denny's words.

Denny finished reading the list. Then, he told everyone, "Okay. Let's discuss how we could improve our coaching skills. Well, let's just say what _Bolton_ should do to improve, because we all know that list was upside down or something. It should have been West High at the top and East High at the bottom. So, Bill, do you wanna lead this discussion?"

"I'd be honored to criticize Bolton's terrible work," Bill responded.

"Okay, let's all listen to Bill, then."

* * *

Half an hour later, Troy snuck out of the convention room. Everyone had been done teasing him and speaking harshly to him, and now were just discussing all the problems with their lives and how much of an 'idiot' he was. And they did it like he wasn't even there. They just said horrible, nasty comments. And Bill had told everyone what Gabriella looked like and now they were all making fun of her, too, even though they never saw her. But their list of flaws was long-she wasn't blonde, her hair was curly, not straight, too thick, not long enough, she wore it down instead of in a messy bun or ponytail, her eyes weren't blue, she barely wore any make-up, she was too petite, she didn't wear nail polish, she didn't have on a brand name coat, and she had on boot cut jeans with semi-dressy boots with the tops _underneath _her pant legs rather than skinny jeans tucked _into_ a pair of Uggs, her purse wasn't a designer one, and her name was too long. Yes, they also knew her name from being at all the high school basketball games Troy had played in and overhearing him talk about her with his teammates, and also talk to her before and after the games. So anyway, in other words, they thought of her as an ugly witch. Troy had tried his hardest to defend her by saying that she wasn't stupid enough to change her entire natural look with cheap blonde hair coloring and pounds of make-up like their wives, and that she was beautiful the way she was, but of course no one listened. Then he had yelled, "You can make fun of me all you want, but don't you DARE say one more negative word about my Gabriella. Because if you continue with this, you might each get a punch in the nose." Still, that hadn't scared anyone.

Troy hurried back to the hotel room belonging to him and Gabriella. Entering, he greeted, "Hi, baby girl."

"You're back early," Gabriella commented, closing her book and placing it on the bed next to her so she could look at her husband. "And you look upset. What happened? Did you get fired?"

"Worse. All the other coaches hurt my feelings so badly. They called me an 'idiot' and a 'moron' and then they started saying nasty things about you. I told them that they could make fun of me all they wanted, but to shut up if they were gonna criticize you. Of course they didn't care. And East High got the best coaching reviews, and they all said it was a big mistake. Oh, and then in the beginning of the convention, everyone was asked to say something they hated about their wives and children. My answer was that I didn't hate you or the kids; I loved all of you. They thought I was really odd," Troy spoke as he sat down next to Gabriella and wrapped his arms around her. At that moment, he needed to hold her. For comfort.

Gabriella rested her head on Troy's shoulder and snuggled against him. "You know, all the coaches are just jealous of you. They know their lives are terrible, but they just pretend they're great. So when they heard about your life, which actually _is_ great, they got envious, which made them hate you."

"You're right," Troy decided, allowing himself to gently run his fingers though his wife's hair.

"How about we go get popcorn from somewhere-I think they have a snack center in this hotel-then cuddle up and eat it while we watch a movie. Sound good?"

"That sounds really nice," Troy answered, kissing Gabriella's forehead. "And I love you."

"Love you, too," Gabriella murmured.

* * *

"I wonder how Dad's doing at his convention," Troy Jr. said at the Baylor's dinner table that evening.

"I don't know," Brie shrugged. "Probably alright, I would guess."

"I'm sure he is," Zeke agreed. "From what he tells me, and from going to some of the Wildcats' games, it seems like he's a great coach. I would'nt be surprised if East High got the best reviews on the coaching."

"Me, neither," Sharpay cut in. "He's a very agreeable-and popular-person. Not many people hate him."

"Are you talking about Julliette's dad?" James questioned.

"Yeah," Zeke replied.

"My daddy's the best daddy in the world," Julliette told James. "And my mommy is the best mommy."

"No, _I _have the best mom and dad," James disagreed in a pleasant way. "Because my mom will play boy games with me when Dad's busy, and Dad makes lots of desserts."

"I'm sure Mr. and Mrs. Bolton do things like that with Julliette," Sharpay remarked. "Well, they probably play girl games with her instead of boy games, but other than that...."

* * *

"Happy birthday, my love," Troy whispered softly as he saw Gabriella's eyes open the next morning.

"Thanks, Wildcat," Gabriella smiled, snuggling into her husband. "So, are you gonna go to the convention again today?"

"No way. Not after what happened yesterday. I was thinking we could just get up and ready whenever we wanted, then start driving home. Somewhere along the way, we could stop for a brunch. Maybe at about...hm...eleven-ish. Sound good to you?"

"Sounds great. I hope this doesn't make me sound too demanding, but when am I gonna get my present? I'm excited for it."

"At home." As Troy spoke, he kissed Gabriella's nose. "Try to be patient, okay, baby girl?"

"I will," Gabriella promised.

* * *

"Here's you cake," Troy announced as he brought a large two-layer vanilla cake with fudge icing to the table. On the top of it, in red icing, were the words 'Happy Birthday Gabriella'. The Boltons had just finished eating their dinner of juicy, tender steaks and mashed potatoes, and were now ready to have a piece of birthday cake. "And I got it from Zeke, so it should be really good."

Gabriella smiled. "I'm sure it'll be wonderful."

"Okay, everyone, let's sing _Happy Birthday_ to your mom," Troy told his kids.

Troy Jr., Brie, Julliette, and Samantha, who had come back from her birth parents' house, sang the song along with Troy.

"You know, I just realized I forgot candles for the cake," Troy informed everyone, sounding annoyed. He then looked at Gabriella. "Sorry, honey."

"It's okay," Gabriella assured Troy. "I don't need candles in my cake."

Troy leaned over to kiss his wife's cheek. "I love you."

"Love you, too."

"Dad, can we just eat a piece of cake?" Troy Jr. questioned, getting impatient. After all, the cake did look very tempting.

"Yeah, let me just get plates, forks, and a knife to cut it up with," Troy replied. He then went into the kitchen, appearing in the dining room again in a minute. He cut the cake up, put some slices on plates, and handed them out, making sure Gabriella got the first one.

"Are you gonna give me my present now?" Gabriella wondered as she took a bite out of her cake.

"Someone's getting impatient," Troy commented affectionately. "But yes, I can give it to you now if you like. Let me just go get it from the garage." Because Troy and Gabriella shared a room, they had to hide each other's birthday gifts in the garage. At Christmastime, they each picked one of the kids' rooms to hide them in since at that time, they couldn't both use the same spot for them.

"Thank you!"

"You're welcome," Troy said, getting up out of his chair and leaving the room. In a short while, he came back with a present in his hands, which he handed to Gabriella. "Here you go."

Gabriella opened her gift. Inside, she found a book she didn't own yet and a paper with some sort of reservation on it. Looking at it, she saw it read that Troy had booked a family-sized suite at a hotel in Paris. Yes, Paris, France. Jumping out of her chair, she threw her arms around her husband. "I love you!" she exclaimed, kissing his cheek, then his lips. "I love you, I love you, I love you! I love you! I love you so much!"

Troy returned Gabriella's affection, laughing a little at her reaction to his gift.

"What did you get, Mom?" Brie wanted to know.

"A vacation for us all!" Gabriella answered enthusiastically. "To Paris!"

"Am I going, too?" Samantha asked politely.

Troy nodded. "Yes, you are."

All the kids started screaming with excitement.

"When are we going? Please tell me it's gonna be soon!" Julliette questioned.

"We'll be going there for a week in February. So that means you all get to miss a whole week of school. And some time off from this country," Troy told everyone.

"I love you, I love you, I love you, I love you, I love you!" Gabriella screamed again, hugging Troy even tighter than before. "And the book you gave me-I can read it during the plane ride! Oh, I'm so excited and I love you, I love you, I love you! I love you so much, Wildcat! Thank you! I don't know how you ever found a way to afford this!"

"I've secretly been saving up since the day we got married. I decided that I wanted to take you to Paris someday, along with any kids we had at that time. And I finally got enough money, after almost fourteen years."

"You are so thoughtful! I love you! I love you! I love you so so much!"


	13. The Wildcats Get Together

**Hey, everyone! Just to let you all know, this chapter is gonna be loooong, and I apologize if that is annoying to anyone. Also, I apologize for the super late update. But I've been so busy lately (as usual) and I had to research all kinds of NY stuff in order for me to write this. So anyway, I made 3 parts to it-all in this chapter though, because I really needed to get this vacation in one chapter due to all the big events later....I don't wanna end up with a 100 chapter story! LOL...and also, if you don't wanna read the whole thing at once, dividing it up will make it easier for you to know where you are. Oh, and I figured out this story will be about 35-45 chaps, which is pretty long. So if any of you get bored of the story, please tell me and if everyone gets bored of it, I'll take a break from it because if no one reads it anymore, I'll lose interest, so anyway, enough talking....let me get on with this story! Enjoy!**

* * *

**PART I**

The Boltons, including Samantha, stepped out of the rental car they had been using since they got off the plane in New York. The day after Gabriella's birthday, Kelsi had called and invited everyone-meaning the Boltons, Baylors, and Danforths-to her and Ryan's house for three days over the two week Christmas break. And that time had come.

"I wonder if James is here yet," Julliette said as she rushed up to the Evans' door, followed by the rest of her family.

"I don't know. Mr. and Mrs. Baylor would have to get a rental car when they got here, like we did, so I can't tell if his family is here or not," Gabriella told her daughter.

"I hope they are."

Troy reached for the doorbell and rang it. A moment later, Ryan opened the door. "Hi! Come in! Sam, Karli's been excited for you to come here ever since we told her you were coming."

Samantha smiled. "Really? I've been excited to see her again, too."

Everyone went inside the Evans' house.

"Julliette!" James, who was sitting in the living room, exclaimed as he jumped up from his seat and ran over to his friend, hugging her. "Do you wanna go play something with me?"

"Sure!" Julliette answered.

"Come on!" James started to run back into the living room, looking behind him to make sure that Julliette was following.

"Hi, Sharpay," Gabriella greeted, walking over to where she saw her friend sitting down in a chair that was in the same room as James and Julliette.

"Hi," Sharpay returned. "So, how are things going for you?"

"Great! Oh, and you'll never guess what Troy got me for my birthday! A trip to Paris! For a whole week! Of course the kids are coming with us, but still, I've never been out of the United States before, so I'm really excited, even though it's not just gonna be Troy and I."

"No way. You're going to the romantic city? I've always wanted to go there all my life! Please take a picture of the Eiffel Tower so I can see it. Please!"

"I will," Gabriella promised.

"Oh, hi, Gabriella!"

Gabriella turned to look at who had just spoken. Seeing that it was Kelsi, she smiled. "Hi! I haven't seen you in a long time! How have you been?"

"I'm great! How are you?"

"Super! Troy got a Paris vacation for me for my birthday! I need to share it with him and the kids, though, but it's just so exciting! And I'll get a break from work because we're going for a whole week in February!"

"Sam!" little Karli yelled, running into the room and over to Samantha.

"Hi, Karli! I was so excited to see you again!" Samantha told the little girl.

At that moment, the doorbell rang. Kelsi hurried to open it. Finding that it was Taylor and Joey, she let them inside. Chad was missing from the family because of the basketball games he had to play.

"Hi, Taylor!" Gabriella spoke. "I'm glad you could make it up here for the get-together."

"Me, too," Taylor agreed. "I need some excitement. My life can get a bit boring. I mean, I love Joey, obviously, but I get tired of talking 'baby talk' after a while, you know? I can't wait for Chad to come back home. I haven't seen him since the basketball season started-other than on TV, that is. He calls me every day, but can never talk for long. I really miss having adult company."

"Well you're always free to come over to my house anytime," Gabriella invited. "It gets really hectic. There's all kinds of arguments, injuries, illnesses, Troy and I are always driving Troy and Brie around to basketball games, dance rehearsals, recitals. It's really a crazy life for us."

"That probably comes from having more than one child, though. I don't know that I personally would wanna have another one just because Chad's never home to help with things. So I'll probably just stick with Joey as my only kid."

"Yeah. You don't wanna have more children than you can handle."

After another few minutes of talking, Ryan had an announcement to make. "Everyone!" he called out. "I have some news I wanna tell you!"

All the adults-and Troy Jr., Brie, and Samantha-quieted down. The young kids just continued with whatever they were doing at the time.

"I just wanted to let you all know that I auditioned for a role in a Broadway musical a couple weeks ago, and just yesterday, I found out that I got in a pretty good part in it! It's not a leading role, but I have thirteen lines and I do a lot of dancing in it. Which is _much_ better than being rejected the last ten times I tried out."

Claps and cheers were heard throughout the room.

"Ryan! This is such a surprise!" Sharpay exclaimed. "I'm totally getting online right now-at your house-and ordering tickets for Zeke, James, and I." Then, after a pause, she remembered she didn't have the name of the play. "What's the name of the show?"

"Red, White, and Blue. It's an Independence Day production, which means opening night isn't until July 4. And sorry to tell you, but tickets can't be booked until February 9."

"Then I'll order them on that day," Sharpay decided.

"We'll come, too," Troy decided. "If it's okay with Gabby, of course." He looked at his wife.

"I'd love to go!" Gabriella informed Troy. "And we can take all the kids with us, too."

"I'll get a ticket for me," Taylor spoke. "And Chad, since he'll be home by that time. Basketball season ends in April, and if he makes in into the playoffs, May, then the championship, June. But he'll definitely be available in July. Joey, I think, is too little to go, even though he will be three in two weeks. So he won't be coming. I'm gonna see if my sister can watch him."

"Yeah, Karli might not go, either," Kelsi told her friend. "I mean, I might take her so she can see her daddy on stage, but I would see the show first to make sure there's nothing that would scare her or anything. Because you know how sometimes things can be quiet then all of a sudden get loud at a production like that. I'm afraid she wouldn't like that if it happened."

"That's one reason why I'm not bringing Joey. Another reason is that I think he'll get too bored because I doubt if he'll understand the storyline of the play."

Several minutes passed in which everyone discussed Red, White, and Blue and their plans for going to see it. Finally, Kelsi stopped the excitement by letting everyone know she had to go start dinner. Gabriella offered to help, Zeke wanted to make the dessert, and Sharpay and Taylor decided to watch the kids while Troy and Ryan turned on the Warriors' game to see how Chad was doing.

"I see Daddy!" Joey screamed as Chad's face came on the TV screen. "Hi, Daddy!" He jumped up and down, waving. "Hi! Daddy! Daddy!"

"Honey, Daddy can't hear you through the TV," Taylor explained. "But when he calls tonight, Mommy will let you say something to him through the phone, okay?"

"Okay!"

Just then Karli, who was running around the room, tripped over one of James' toys that he had brought with him. She began to cry.

"Are you alright?" Samantha questioned, concerned.

"I-I want M-Mommy!" Karli sobbed.

Ryan walked over to his daughter. "Mommy's making dinner. She can't come out here right now."

Karli hit Ryan. "Go away, Daddy! I said I wanted Mommy!"

"Don't hit," Ryan scolded firmly. "And I already told you Mommy can't come to see you right now. You're just gonna have to live with that."

"But I want Mommy!"

"Stop whining, Karli. You know, I think you're gonna be going to bed early tonight. You're getting to be grumpy now, which means you need sleep."

"I don't need sleep!" Karli protested.

"Karli," Samantha began. "Do you wanna play a game with me? Come here and I'll take you to your room to get some of your toys to play with."

Karli rushed over to Samantha. "Okay. Let's go! I'll show you whewe my woom is."

Samantha smiled as she got up from the chair she was sitting in and followed Karli upstairs.

* * *

"Kelsi," Gabriella started as she began to cut up a tomato for the salad that was to be with the dinner of breaded chicken legs and fresh, hot, crescent rolls.

"Yeah?" Kelsi acknowledged as she adjusted her black-framed glasses and opened the refrigerator to get a head of lettuce out of it.

Gabriella then told her friend about Brie getting chosen for the summer ballet program in New York City.

"Wow! That's great!" Kelsi exclaimed after Gabriella had finished her story.

"I know! But anyway, the program is going to be held in Julliard's ballet quarters, dorm rooms will be offered to all the girls participating in the training, and meals will be in the cafeteria of the school, but I was just wondering if you would be available for her to go to if there was a problem. Because she's gonna be partially on her own since there won't be adults right there for her after the classes end each day. And I'm just kind of worried about that. Also, she may need to get to a store somehow if she needs new ballet slippers, or things like toothpaste and sunscreen. So would you be willing to drive her somewhere if she would need something like that? I'll give her money and everything so you won't have to pay for the things."

"I'd be happy to help," Kelsi replied.

"Thank you so much!"

"No problem. I'll always be willing to help you whenever you need it."

* * *

After both dinner and the peanut butter brownies Zeke had made were eaten, all the adults-plus Troy Jr. and Brie-gathered around in the living room while Samantha took Karli and Joey, who she had offered to keep an eye on, upstairs to Karli's bedroom to play. James and Julliette were just running pointlessly around the house, wound up from being in a different environment than they were used to.

"Julliette, do you wanna make chocolate chip cookies?" James asked. "I help my dad make them a lot, so I know what I'm doing. We could go in the kitchen, find all the ingredients, then I'll show you how to do it."

"I don't think we should be using the kitchen unless our parents are there," Julliette decided after a moment.

"But I know what I'm doing!" James insisted.

"Alright....if you know what you're doing....I guess it would be okay."

"Great!" James then ran into the kitchen, making sure Julliette was following him.

"What ingredients do we need?" Julliette questioned. "I have to know what I'm looking for."

"Flour, eggs, chocolate chips, sugar, butter, and vanilla," James listed.

"Okay!"

Five minutes later, everything-plus a large bowl, mixing spoon, measuring cups, and measuring spoons-was spread out across the counter. Fortunately for the two kids, Ryan and Kelsi had had everything that was needed to make the cookies.

"First we need to measure out the flour," James informed his friend, grabbing a measuring cup and pouring flour from the flour bag into it. However, a lot of flour didn't make it into the cup, but all over himself, Julliette, the counter, and the floor.

"James! You're making a mess!" Julliette commented.

"It's okay. We can clean it up later. Now, let's see, eggs." James grabbed the two eggs that were out and handed one to Julliette. "Crack it over the bowl, okay?"

Julliette nodded in understanding.

James and Julliette failed with the egg-cracking. They ended up getting the sticky egg yolks and gooey whites all over their clothes. Half of it was running onto the floor, too.

"Uh-oh," Julliette said quietly.

"It's alright." As James spoke, he knocked the bowl containing the flour and just a tiny bit of egg over onto the floor. "Now that's really an uh-oh!"

"What are you two doing?" Ryan demanded as he entered the room. After hearing the noise of the bowl falling, he had decided he needed to investigate the suspicious situation.

"Uncle Ryan, why are you here?" James wondered, trying to sound innocent.

"Zeke! Sharpay! Troy! Gabriella!" Ryan called. "Come here and look at your children. I think this is something you should know about!"

Zeke, Sharpay, Troy, and Gabriella rushed over to see what the problem was.

"What were you doing?" Zeke wanted to know. "Trying to bake? You're not supposed to be baking unless someone's helping you!"

"Julliette! You know better than this!" Troy announced sternly. "Go sit in the living room and don't get up until I tell you it's okay. I'm very disappointed in you!"

"James, you could've hurt yourself while using a hot oven," Sharpay told her son, sounding both annoyed and worried.

"You, too, Julliette," Gabriella echoed firmly. Then, she noticed her daughter's dirty clothes. "And before you go in the living room, I'm getting our things our of the car and you'll get changed." She then turned to Kelsi, who, by that time, had come over to everyone along with Taylor. "I'm so sorry, Kelsi. I'll clean up this mess."

"I'll help you," Kelsi offered.

"No, my daughter made the mess. It wouldn't be fair for you to have to do any work to clean it up."

"My son had a part in it, too," Sharpay reminded her friends. "So I'll clean with Gabriella. And James. I'm gonna make him help with the cleaning, too. After he gets changed, of course. You all know how I cannot _stand_ dirty clothing. It's one of the most disgusting things."

"Good idea. Julliette will need to clean, too," Gabriella decided. "And _then_ the time will come for her to sit in the living room."

"I would have James sit in there, too, but I don't want him and Julliette to start talking with each other and all, so I'll make him sit in the dining room after this mess is gone."

* * *

Two hours passed. The big mess had been cleaned up and James and Julliette had gone through their punishment of sitting down and doing nothing. Karli had been put in bed, and not too long after that, Kelsi had shown Taylor the one of the three guest rooms in the house where she and Joey would be sleeping in. Taylor had put her son on the large bed in the room and told him he needed to sleep.

Gabriella, who was cuddled up against Troy, rested her head on his shoulder. "I'm sleepy," she told him.

Troy took his cell phone, which still told Mountain Time on it, from the pocket of his pants and looked at it. "It's seven o' clock Albuquerque time, honey. I know it's a little later here, but you went to bed and woke up when we were at home, so you didn't lose any sleep. Why are you so tired?"

"I guess this was just a busy day." Gabriella yawned.

"You're tired?" Kelsi questioned, overhearing Troy and Gabriella's little conversation. "I can show you your room and you can go to bed if you want. Now is actually the time before everyone else decides to go to bed and all three of our bathrooms have a line at them of people waiting to get ready for bed."

Gabriella lifted her head up and looked at Troy. "What do you think, Wildcat?"

"If you're that sleepy, I'll go to bed with you."

Gabriella smiled. "Okay." She then turned to Kelsi. "Yeah, Troy and I wanna go to bed now. And so will Julliette."

"Why?" Julliette wondered. "I'm not really that tired."

"Because you need your sleep and after what happened tonight with you and James, I don't think you should get the privilege of staying up late."

Julliette looked at the floor. "Okay."

"Can I stay up?" Troy Jr. requested.

Gabriella looked at Troy, who nodded. "Yes," she answered. "You, Brie, and Sam may stay up until you get tired. Though I just want you to come and see which room is ours to use for the night."

"Alright."

"Follow me," Kelsi instructed.

Troy, Gabriella, and the kids all followed Kelsi upstairs and into a nicely painted room with a king-sized bed in the middle of it and four air mattresses with sheets and blankets on them lying against one of the walls.

"Sorry you all have to squeeze in here," Kelsi apologized. "I hope you're not too uncomfortable. And there's a bathroom just across the hall. When you're using it, just make sure you lock the door, though. Ryan and I are still trying to break Karli of her habit of opening closed doors without knocking."

"We will," Gabriella acknowledged.

* * *

Fifteen minutes later, Troy and Gabriella crawled under the covers of the bed in the room that had been assigned to their family while Julliette got onto one of the mattresses that was on the floor. It had been decided that the two adults would get to sleep in the bed, and the kids would get the air mattresses.

"This mattress is squishy!" Julliette squealed. "I like it!"

"That's good," Troy commented. "Now go to sleep. Mommy and I are tired."

"Okay. I'll try." Julliette closed her eyes.

Gabriella turned out the light that was beside the bed. "Good night, Julliette. Good night, Wildcat."

"Good night," Julliette responded.

"Good night, my love," Troy whispered in Gabriella's ear. Then, speaking in a normal tone, he added, "Good night, Julliette."

"Good night, Daddy," Julliette said.

"Gabby, I love you," Troy told his wife as he turned his attention back to her.

"Love you," Gabriella returned.

Troy and Gabriella then both kissed each other passionately.

"Sleep well," Troy murmured.

Gabriella laid her head on Troy's chest, which was covered by the material of the t-shirt he was wearing, and closed her eyes. Troy had decided to wear one of his shirts to bed along with his shorts because he wasn't just at home-he was in a house with several other people. Gabriella had also considered that fact along with the one that the kids were going to be in the room, too, not just her and Troy-and had thrown on some sweat pants with one of Troy's shirts.

Troy kissed Gabriella's cheek gently and wrapped her up in a warm hug before closing his eyes, too.

* * *

Troy Jr., Brie, and Samantha were sitting in the living room. Still. It was ten-thirty and everyone else had gone to bed. However, the three of them weren't tired yet.

"What do you wanna do?" Troy Jr. asked.

"I don't know," Brie and Samantha both replied.

"Wanna see if anything good is on TV?"

"Sure," Brie shrugged. "But only if by 'good' you don't mean a basketball game or something like that. Because I'm not a huge fan of basketball, as you know."

"Yeah, I know. I'll look for something other than that. Don't worry." Troy Jr. reached for the remote control and pressed the 'power' button. On the screen, a toddler's show appeared. "Let's watch this!"

"No!" Samantha exclaimed.

"I was kidding," Troy Jr. assured his friend.

"I know."

"Why don't you flip through the channels?" Brie suggested.

"Okay," Troy Jr. agreed. He then pushed a button that made the channel change to an all movie channel. Barney's Christmas was on. "Why is all this baby stuff on?"

"I don't know," Brie answered. But why don't you put it on Disney? That might have something good on."

Troy Jr. listened to his sister. Disney Channel was showing their newest movie. And, fortunately for Troy Jr.-but unfortunately for Brie and Samantha-the movie was about a boy who played basketball. It was a pretty boring storyline-he wasn't good at the game, then he practiced really hard and became the best player on the team, and fell for a cheerleader. However, Troy Jr. loved it.

"Can we not watch this?" Brie wondered.

"Why? I love this movie!"

"Sam, do you wanna watch this?" Brie wanted to know, turning toward her friend.

"Not really. Basketball isn't my favorite thing," came Samantha's polite reply.

"If I asked you to watch me play one of my games, would you come?" Troy Jr. cut in.

"It would depend on how much homework I had. I mean, you're my friend and everything, but homework's really important and I don't wanna fail any assignments. But I would try my best to go."

Troy Jr. rolled his eyes. "You're telling me, you would rather sit at-"

Brie clapped her hand quickly over her brother's mouth. "Come on. We've gotta talk before you act out because of one of your 'moods'-again." She then uncovered his mouth and, grabbing his arm, pulled him into the kitchen. "You've gotta quit with the attitude," she told him. "You can't get mad about things like these. People have lives. And their lives don't always involve going to watch your games."

"I know that, Gabriella."

"Don't call me by my full name! You're not my father!"

"I need to be left alone!" With that, Troy Jr. hurried out the back door, which was in the corner of the room, slamming it behind him after he was out of the house.

"Troy! Come back!" Brie called. "You don't know New York! There could be criminals out there1" She then opened the door her brother had just disappeared out of to see him sitting on the back porch, a look of anger on his face. "Troy," she began.

"I said that I needed to be left alone. I don't know what part of that you didn't understand."

"Alright. I'll leave you alone. Just don't leave this porch. And I'm gonna unlock the door so you can come in when you're ready."

"What's going on?" Samantha questioned, hurrying into the kitchen.

"Troy's mad at me and he went outside," Brie informed her friend.

"I think he should come in! It's winter, there's some snow on the ground, and he's out there without a coat or shoes? That's not good at all!"

"I know. But he insisted on it." Brie shut the door. After that, she unlocked it, just as she had promised her brother she would.

"Is he gonna be alright?"

"I don't know."

"What's going on?" came a voice as someone else entered the room.

Brie and Samantha turned around to see Gabriella standing behind them. "Mom!" they both shouted.

Brie then began telling her mother what had happened, finishing with saying that Troy Jr. was out on the back porch and wouldn't come back inside.

"I thought I heard a door slamming. And arguing. It woke up me, your father, and Julliette. And you know how Dad barely wakes up to anything."

"Can you tell him to come back in, please?" Samantha begged.

"Yes, I will. Before everyone in the house wakes up." Gabriella walked over to the back door and opened it. "Troy," she spoke in a firm voice, "You need to come back inside."

"But-" Troy Jr. started to protest.

"Come back in."

Troy Jr., feeling even more angry than before, trudged inside.

"Now I think this would be a good time for you to get ready and then go to bed. Troy, you're getting in a bad mood, and for all three of you, it really is getting late. Besides, we have a very busy day tomorrow."

* * *

**PART II**

"How did my precious Gabby sleep last night?" Troy asked his wife as he opened his eyes the next morning and looked straight into her already open ones, which indicated that she was awake.

"Good," Gabriella smiled. "And how did my Wildcat sleep?"

"Great! Except for the little interruption due to the kids arguing, that is."

Gabriella giggled slightly. "Yeah. Well it seems like the kids are still sleeping. Do you wanna just spend some time together before getting ready?"

"I always wanna spend time with my baby girl." Troy cuddled Gabriella closer to him than she already was cuddled, then pressed a sweet kiss onto her lips. "You look so beautiful this morning, you know that?"

Gabriella returned her husband's kiss. "Thanks. And yes, I know that to you, I can never look anything but beautiful."

"So, on Christmas are we having my parents over like we usually do?"

"I was thinking we could. And if my mom wants to come, too, she can. I don't know if she'll wanna take the trip to Albuquerque or not."

Troy nodded in understanding. "Yeah. I know that she doesn't come every year, but she has maybe about five times since we got married."

"I know. Well I'll have to call her when we get back home and ask what she was planning on doing this year."

Troy got himself into a sitting position, then pulled Gabriella onto his lap, kissing the top of her head as he did so. "Are you still gonna get a shower with me this morning even though we're not at home?"

"Of course. I love our shower time."

"So do I. And I also love every other one of our alone times. Another thing I love is spoiling you."

"And you do a good job with that, too. Because I feel very spoiled all the time. I never have to wash myself up in the shower anymore, I never have to beg to snuggle close to you because I'm cold-you always let me-I get massages when I'm sore, and I get an endless number of hugs, kisses, and cuddles each day."

Troy nuzzled Gabriella's cheek. "I love you."

"Love you, too."

* * *

Everyone in the house was downstairs eating breakfast in the dining room. An hour had passed, and no one had gotten ready yet; they were all still in pajamas. Surprisingly-but not so surprisingly-Sharpay looked as if she had just gotten finished at a beauty shop. Her hair, which was pulled back into a low ponytail, didn't look messy at all. Her silky pink pajamas looked more like an outfit than sleepwear.

"Is that shirt Troy's?" Sharpay asked Gabriella, noticing what her friend was wearing.

Gabriella nodded. "Yeah. His shirts are very comfy, so I wear them to bed all the time. Unless he and I are mad at each other, then he doesn't let me."

Sharpay laughed. "So if you're fighting, he doesn't wanna share?"

Gabriella shook her head. "No, not really."

"And we get mad at each other what, once every other year?" Troy cut in.

Gabriella turned to face her husband. "Yeah. Sometimes it's every three years, depending on what's happening at the time."

Troy smiled and pushed a piece of Gabriella's hair out of her face.

Gabriella giggled slightly, then took a sip of the hot coffee that was in a mug right in front of her along with the plate of her breakfast, which consisted of two pancakes and bacon. In a small bowl next to the plate was some fruit salad.

"Do you all wanna hear what Ryan and I were thinking of doing with you today?" Kelsi wondered.

"Yeah," everyone except James, Julliette, Joey, and Karli-who weren't really interested in the adults' conversation-replied.

"We were gonna take you guys to see the Statue of Liberty. Is that alright?"

"Sure."

"As long as we don't end up lost on the way there, then get to the place where there's a boat that will take you to the little island with the statue, then find out it's closed," Troy added.

Before Troy and Gabriella had gotten married, they had taken a vacation with Troy's parents in New York. Then, they had decided to go see the Statue of Liberty and the trip was a total disaster and a waste of all the money that was needed to buy gas along the way.

"We've gone there before," Ryan assured Troy. "So we know exactly what we're doing.. You don't have to worry about any kind of crazy thing happening."

"I've always wanted to go visit the Statue," Samantha commented. "It seems like a very interesting thing."

"It is," Kelsi confirmed.

* * *

Everyone stepped out of their cars at the place of the boat that took people across the small area of water to the Statue. The ride had been smooth and Ryan and Kelsi had been in the lead so that their friends could follow them. Even the traffic hadn't been that bad, considering that it was New York City and almost Christmas.

"We have to wait for the boat," Kelsi told all her friends.

"How long of a ride is it on there?" Taylor questioned.

"Not long at all. Only about ten minutes. It might not be able to fit all of us on it at once, though. If it can't, then we'll have to go in two groups."

"That's okay."

At that moment, the boat arrived at its dock. "Okay," a man that was on it called out. "Who's next?"

"We are," Ryan answered, indicating with his arms and hands the large group of people that were going to see the Statue.

"And how many are there?" the man wanted to know.

Ryan quickly counted everybody, including himself. "Fourteen."

"Okay. Well then I can only take half of you for now. So you can pick who will go, then I'll take them across. After that, I'll come back for the rest of you."

* * *

Everyone walked into the Statue of Liberty after paying the fee that was required to visit it. Before them, they saw a staircase, which would lead up to different sections of the Statue.

"Can we go in the crown?" Brie requested. "I wanna see what it's like up there."

"Sure," Gabriella replied. "We can go up there."

"The crown has the best view of the water," Sharpay told her friend. "Believe me. I came here before when I was visiting Ryan and Kelsi at another time, and I went in the crown. What I could see from there was amazing."

"Do you wanna stop in the torch first?" Kelsi wanted to know. "That has a pretty cool view, too."

"Okay," Gabriella answered.

A few minutes later, everyone was standing in the torch of the Statue.

"Gabby," Troy began.

Gabriella looked at her husband, who was standing right next to her.

Troy, instead of answering with words, began kissing Gabriella's lips.

Gabriella returned the kiss. When she and Troy both pulled apart after a few seconds, she wanted to know, "What was that for, exactly?"

"I just wanna be able to say that I kissed my wife in the Statue of Liberty's torch."

Gabriella giggled. "You're crazy, Wildcat. Too crazy."

Troy pressed a kiss onto the top of Gabriella's head. Then, in her ear, he whispered, "But I know you love me for it, baby girl."

"Of course I do," Gabriella smiled, resting her cheek against Troy's shoulder.

"Can we go to the crown now?" Brie said, sounding a bit impatient.

"When everyone's done in the torch," came Troy's reply.

"You don't have to wait for us," Kelsi spoke. "If you all wanna go up to the crown awhile, go ahead. we can meet you there when we're done in here. I don't want you to feel like you have to stay with us at all times."

"Are you sure?" Gabriella questioned.

Kelsi nodded. "Yeah."

"Alright, then, I guess we can go up to the crown," Gabriella decided.

"Can I stay here with James?" Julliette asked.

Gabriella turned toward Sharpay. "Julliette wants to stay here with James. Is that okay with you and Zeke or would you rather her come with my family?"

"She can stay here with us," Sharpay replied.

Gabriella looked at her daughter. "You can stay here, then. Just remember to listen to Mr. and Mrs. Baylor."

"I will," Julliette promised.

"Troy, Sam, are you two coming up to the crown?" Gabriella checked.

Both Troy Jr. and Samantha nodded, then followed the rest of their family as they exited the torch of the Statue.

"Here we are," Gabriella announced as she and the rest of her family who had come with her arrived in the Statue of Liberty's crown.

Brie looked over the top wall of the crown. "It looks so cool!"

Gabriella-followed by Troy, Troy Jr., and Samantha-copied what her daughter was doing. "Wow! The water looks so pretty from this view!" Then, she allowed her eyes to meet Troy's. "Doesn't it, Wildcat?"

Troy returned Gabriella's loving gaze. "It's nothing compared to you," he murmured softly. "You're a million times prettier than it."

Gabriella wrapped her arms around her husband. "Wildcat, I love you so very much."

"Love you, too."

* * *

"Wanna go to Central Park now?" Kelsi wanted to know as she and the group of her friends and family walked over to their cars after finishing up at the Statue.

"No," Ryan replied. "I don't think the little kids-Karli and Joey-will be able to handle going to another location yet today. And to tell you the truth, I don't think I can, either. I've had to carry our daughter up and down those stairs in the Statue because she got tired of walking and I just wanna go home, eat, then sleep."

"I don't really wanna go, either," Sharpay agreed. "I'm pregnant, you know. And that makes me tired."

"I'll go back with Sharpay," Zeke answered.

"What does everyone else think?" Kelsi asked.

"I would go," Taylor answered. "And I think Joey will be able to handle going, too."

"We would be interested, too," Gabriella echoed. "Troy and I have been wanting to go to Bow Bridge for about ten years. And I think the kids would really like the things at the park, too."

"Can I go with Julliette?" James requested, looking at his mother.

"You have to ask her parents that. And if they say 'yes,' then you'll be allowed to go. But if they don't, then you'll need to come back to Uncle Ryan and Aunt Kelsi's house with Dad and I."

"Okay." James then ran up to the Boltons. "Mr. and Mrs. Bolton, can I go to the park with you since my mom and dad don't wanna go?"

"If she says it's alright," Gabriella told James.

"She said it was alright if you said it was alright."

* * *

Kelsi, James, Taylor, Joey, and everyone in the Bolton family entered Central Park. There, they saw a good number of people walking around talking, laughing, walking dogs, walking babies and toddlers. A lot of kids were running across the area that was before them, too.

"This is Cherry Hill," Kelsi announced. "Isn't it beautiful?"

Taylor and Gabriella both nodded.

"Come on, precious," Troy urged, taking his wife's hand and taking a step forward. "Let's go have fun."

"What about us?" Brie wondered.

"You know, I could keep and eye on your kids if you wanna go run off and see this place-it's very romantic at some spots, especially at night under the stars. So go have fun. Taylor and I will meet you back here-with the kids of course-around....hm, let's see....five thirty? Is that alright?"

Troy and Gabriella both looked at each other, then turned to Kelsi and told her they agreed to the plan.

"Great. Have a good time. When we meet back here, maybe we could go out to dinner somewhere."

Troy and Gabriella, still holding hands, walked off, then sat down on the edge of the fountain that was near where they had been standing previously.

Troy leaned over and gave Gabriella a kiss on the cheek before wrapping one of his arms around her. "My baby girl," he whispered in her ear softly as he placed a second kiss onto her face.

"My Wildcat," Gabriella murmured softly, resting her head on her husband's shoulder, making a scene that couldn't be made any more perfect. Well, that is unless it was taking place in summer when the grass was at its greenest and a soft breeze was blowing through.

Suddenly, out of nowhere, Troy let go of Gabriella and reached his hand into the fountain, flicking water all over the both of them.

"What are you doing?" Gabriella giggled with a slight shiver. "It's the middle of winter! We don't need to be getting wet!"

"I'm crazy. You tell me that all the time," Troy said, smiling at Gabriella. Now come on; let's put our feet in the fountain and relax. It'll be fun."

"What? Wildcat-"

"Gabby, please? I really want to have this moment."

"Fine." Pretending to be annoyed, Gabriella rolled up her pants, kicked off her shoes and socks, then moved into a position so that her feet were underneath the flow of the fountain.

Troy did the same as Gabriella before leaning over to kiss the top of her head. "Aren't you glad I suggested this?" he questioned, hugging her close to his side.

"It's nice and all, but it's just making me cold," came Gabriella's reply. While she spoke, she pulled the thick black coat she was wearing tighter around her body and snuggled into Troy. "We should come back here in the summer and do it then. Then the water would feel really refreshing. What do you think?"

"Well if you're that cold, then I don't wanna make you stay here."

Suddenly, Gabriella put one of her hands in the fountain and used it to splash her husband with the water that it contained. "I tricked you," she giggled in a highly amused way as she took in the surprised expression on Troy's face. A hint of confusion was visible in both his eyes and on his lips, too.

"Gabby! I think I need to get back at you!"

* * *

Brie stepped onto the ice at Wollman Rink, the ice-skating rink in Central Park, followed by Julliette, Samantha, and Kelsi. Troy Jr. had thought ice skating was too girly a thing for him to do, so he had decided just to sit at the edge of the rink watching everyone else have all the fun. He could have gone to the children's zoo-also in the park-with Taylor and Joey, but that had sounded too babyish to him.

"Troy, I can't believe you don't wanna do this!" Brie exclaimed as she slid across the smooth ice. "It's so much fun!"

"I'm a basketball player-not an ice skater," Troy Jr. responded, a hint of annoyance in his voice. "I can't balance; I would fall flat on my face or worse. Then if I got hurt too bad, I wouldn't be able to play basketball for the rest of the season, and that would make me so mad."

"Well you're really missing out!"

"I don't care."

"This is my first time ice skating," Samantha told Troy Jr. "And it's pretty fun."

"Yeah, it is," Julliette agreed.

"I'm fine, thank you," Troy Jr. yelled.

* * *

Troy and Gabriella walked onto the Great Lawn, another section of Central Park. They had just come from their rental car, where they had dried off and changed their clothes before returning to their fun. And the reason they had needed to change was because of what had happened at the fountain. After Gabriella had splashed Troy, they had shoved each other playfully into the water, which caused them both to become dripping wet and shivering-their teeth chattering, too. They were grateful they had kept a bag of extra vacation things that weren't needed at Ryan and Kelsi's yet in the car. It contained a couple blankets and spare clothes; just in case they would need them for something.

"This would be a nice summer picnic spot," Gabriella commented, sitting down in the grass, which was half-dead from the cold air of winter. "The grass would be green, the sun would be high up in the sky; it would just be the most perfect thing."

"I know," Troy murmured, sitting next to his wife and kissing her cheek softly. "We really need to come back here sometime during the summer for an 'us' vacation."

Gabriella smiled. "Yeah, we should."

Troy leaned over and touched his lips to Gabriella's in a loving, passionate kiss.

Gabriella deepened the kiss Troy had began, wrapping her arms loosely around his neck as she did so. When she finally, after about a minute, felt him start to gently pull away, she did the same and, her arms still around him, her eyes slowly meeting his, whispered, "I love you."

"Love you, too," Troy returned, also in a whisper. As he spoke, he reached out one hand and brushed a strand of Gabriella's hair, which was still quite wet from the fountain, behind her ear.

* * *

Dusk began to give into gradual darkness around quarter after five-the usual time it did that during winter. The moon, which was barely a sliver, hung in the sky, surrounded by many stars. Standing on Bow Bridge-hand in hand-were Troy and Gabriella. They had just finished watching the sunset.

"This is one of the places I've wanted to stand with you for so long," Troy announced quietly.

Gabriella rested her cheek on Troy's shoulder and let out a soft sigh. "I know; it's beautiful here. Looking out over the water, being next to you. It's just so...peaceful. And I like it."

Troy kissed the top of Gabriella's head before lying his own on top of it. "I never imagined being this happy before I met you. I'm not gonna go into detail on this because you know my story well enough, but I just wanna say that I feel so privileged to be your husband."

Gabriella smiled. "I couldn't ask for anything more than nights like these. With you. Just us. No one else. Alone, in a quiet area, in a romantic place."

"Yeah, same here, baby girl."

"You know, it seems like it's getting late. We should probably head back to Cherry Hill to meet Kelsi, Taylor, and all the kids."

"Oh, yeah, you're right! I totally forgot about that." Troy groaned. "I must have gotten so caught up in our little moment here." He then reached into the pocket of his jeans and took out his phone. Checking the time, he told Gabriella, "Yup. You're right. We need to go." After that, still keeping hold of Gabriella's hand, he began walking off the bridge.

"Do you know where we're even going?" Gabriella questioned.

Troy nodded. "Yeah. Cherry Hill is near here. I know because when we were in Cherry Hill I could see this bridge from here."

"So could I."

"Well then we should be able to get back there alright."

* * *

Fifteen minutes had passed. Troy and Gabriella were wandering around Central Park-lost. Obviously, they had gone in the complete opposite direction of Cherry Hill. But, not having the sun in the sky, it had been hard for them to see things clearly to know exactly where they were going.

"Where are we?" Gabriella asked, reaching out to grab Troy's hand.

"I don't know," Troy responded.

"I don't really think we're near Cherry Hill anymore."

"Me neither. And it's getting dark, too, so that makes it even harder for us to tell what direction we're going in. I hope we don't get stuck in this place all night. That would be terrible."

"Not that terrible. Just very uncomfortable because of the temperature. In the summer, I would love to sleep here under the stars."

"I don't even think people are supposed to sleep here, though."

"Yeah, probably not."

"Kelsi, Taylor, and the kids are probably wondering what's going on with us. They had wanted to go get dinner and now they're stuck waiting for us."

"Even when we do find them, I think I wanna skip dinner. After playing around in the fountain and all, I don't think I look decent enough to go into a New York City restaurant."

"Maybe we can see if we can skip dinner."

"Hopefully we can. I just feel like I need a shower so badly and I'm exausted from walking around all day. All I wanna do right now is go back to Ryan and Kelsi's, get cleaned up, and rest."

"Sounds good to me."

Suddenly, Gabriella tripped over something on the ground and fell, accidentally pulling Troy down with her. As she did so, she let out a gasp of surprise. "What did I trip over? And I'm sorry for making you fall, too, Wildcat."

Troy examined the ground closely. "Looks like a stick. And it's alright. I didn't get hurt. Did you, baby girl?"

"No; I'm fine."

"Great."

* * *

Twenty minutes had passed. Troy and Gabriella had finally found out what the correct direction to Cherry Hill was and were currently entering it, where they saw Kelsi, Taylor, and all the kids standing.

"We're so sorry we're late," Gabriella apologized. "We got lost on our way back here."

"It's okay," Kelsi assured her friend. "So, did you have a good time?"

"Yes," Troy and Gabriella both answered at the same time.

"That's good. Did you still wanna go out to eat?"

"We were actually gonna ask if it was okay if we skipped dinner and just went back to your house. We're really tired and wanna get a shower and rest," Gabriella told Kelsi.

"That's fine. Go ahead. I can take your kids to the restaurant if they would like. It'll be no problem." Kelsi then looked at Troy Jr., Brie, Samantha, and Julliette, who all said that they would want to go out to eat.

"Thanks, Kelsi," Gabriella smiled.

* * *

That evening, everyone was relaxing in the living room after the long, eventful day that had just passed. Surprisingly, everything was silent except for the sound of the movie that was on the TV. Gabriella, Sharpay, and Kelsi were all sitting on some type of furniture in the room, cuddling up with their husbands while Taylor just sat by herself, wishing Chad wasn't away. Troy Jr., Brie, and Samantha were lying on the floor with pillows under their heads. Even James and Julliette were being quiet; they were just sitting in two chairs they had pulled out to the living room from the dining room. The littlest children-Joey and Karli-had already gone to bed.

"What do you think we're gonna do tomorrow?" Gabriella asked Kelsi as she let out a yawn and sleepily buried her face into Troy's shoulder.

"I thought maybe we could go back to Central Park," Kelsi replied. "Only this time, I'll print out a map of it for you so that if you go off on your own, you won't get lost again."

Gabriella giggled slightly. "That sounds like fun."

"Is everyone's flight in the evening?"

"Ours is," Sharpay answered. "At seven o' clock."

"We're taking the six-thirty plane," Gabriella acknowledged.

"Joey and I-our plane leaves at six-thirty, too," Taylor responded.

"Great," Kelsi said. "Then we should have time to go to Central Park and another place. I haven't decided what the other place is gonna be yet; I just know I wanna take you all somewhere fun."

"Tomorrow," Gabriella whispered in Troy's ear, "We're not gonna get wet again."

Troy responded by nodding in agreement and pressing gentle kisses onto his wife's cheeks.

"So, what are you two doing for your anniversary?" Sharpay wanted to know as she turned to Troy and Gabriella. "It's coming up really soon."

"We have plans to go to the ski lodge where we met. We go there almost every year for our anniversary just because we met-and got married-there; we don't even like skiing," Gabriella spoke.

"I don't like skiing, either. It's too hard."

* * *

**PART III**

The next day, in late morning, everyone entered North Meadow in Central Park. A large open space was before them.

"This is one of my favorite spots in this park," Kelsi told all her friends.

"My favorite spot so far is Bow Bridge," Gabriella commented. "It's so romantic there. And Cherry Hill-I love the fountain in that place! This summer, Troy and I have got to come back here to play in it again!"

"Yeah, I know; Bow Bridge is romantic."

"Are we gonna hang out here for a while?" Taylor wanted to know.

Kelsi nodded. "I was thinking we could. You can sit down if you want."

Taylor sat down on the grass.

The rest of the adults, Troy Jr., Brie, and Samantha sat down with Taylor while the younger kids ran off to play.

"Sometime during the summer, Troy and I were considering of coming here for an 'us' vacation," Gabriella announced. "We thought we could have picnic, play around in all the fountains, and take walks."

"Aw, you two are such a sweet couple to do that," Sharpay remarked. "Zeke and I don't take vacations alone-unless it's our anniversary."

"Troy and I just have a really close bond," Gabriella explained. "We make 'us' time every day."

"That's not hard to believe. You and him always were inseparable."

Gabriella smiled. "I know. So, Julliette told me that James said something about having a little brother. Is that true?"

Sharpay nodded. "Yeah. I'm having another boy."

"Is that what you wanted?" Taylor questioned. "Or would you rather it be a girl?"

"I kind of wanted a girl this time, but I'm alright with it being a boy. I'm not gonna say no to my baby or anything like that."

"Do you have any names picked out yet?" Gabriella wondered as she climbed into Troy's lap and snuggled up comfortably there, her head resting against his chest.

"Yup. Zeke and I were thinking about naming him Bryson."

"You mean you told me his name was gonna be Bryson," Zeke cut in. "I never got a say in it. Not like I care or anything, just saying that I didn't get a say in it."

"Don't worry Zeke," Ryan began. "I didn't really have a say in my daughter's name, either."

"I got your approval before I put it on the birth certificate!" Kelsi protested.

"Yeah, you asked me if it was alright as you were writing it on the papers!"

"I picked out Joey's name," Taylor spoke. "Mostly because Chad wasn't home when I was picking out names. What about you, Gabriella? Did you let Troy pick out any baby names?"

Gabriella nodded. "He wanted Brie to be named after me, I wanted Troy to be named after him. He said it was okay if we had a son with the same name as him. Then, I thought up Julliette's name by myself and asked Troy if it was okay if we named her that."

"That was nice of you to let him help."

* * *

Everyone walked into Rockfeller Center, another location in New York City. Kelsi had decided she wanted to take all her friends and their children there as they were leaving Central Park. She had said there was a large Christmas tree there that looked really nice and she wanted everyone to see it.

"Wow!" Taylor exclaimed as she saw the tree. "You were right, Kelsi. It is a beautiful tree!"

"Yeah," Gabriella agreed with a smile. "I gotta get a picture of this." She then looked at Troy. "Wildcat, do you have your phone with you?" Troy had a camera phone. Gabriella had one, too, but had left hers at Ryan and Kelsi's house by accident when she had left with everyone that morning.

"Yes," Troy answered, reaching into the pocket of his pants. However, no phone was found there. He quickly checked his other pocket. "Gabby, honey, I-I don't have it. I'm positive I brought it with me this morning when we left."

"One hundred percent positive?"

Troy nodded. "I can't believe this."

"What happened?" Ryan questioned, overhearing Troy and Gabriella's conversation.

"I lost my cell phone," Troy responded.

"Are you sure? Maybe you just left it at my house when we left for Central Park this morning."

"I'm sure."

"You lost your phone, Troy?" Kelsi spoke. "If you want, you can take a drive back to Central Park and look for it there. We'll come with you, too. If we all help look, it'll go faster."

"I was already thinking of that. Though I'm sure Gabby's gonna be coming with me," Troy informed Kelsi. "And all the kids. I think we'll have enough people looking. You don't have to come, too."

"Well if you're sure, then I guess we'll just stay here. When you're ready to come back, you can."

"Alright."

* * *

Troy, Gabriella, and all their kids arrived back at Central Park in a little while. They then walked around it until they reached the North Meadow. Once there, they all began to look for Troy's phone.

"I don't see it," Troy Jr. observed after about ten minutes of looking.

"Neither do I," Troy agreed. "Baby girl, do you see any signs of it?"

"No," Gabriella replied sadly. "And it's all my fault you lost it. Remember when I encouraged you to roll around the grass with me in this area earlier? That's probably what made you lose it. I am so sorry, Wildcat. So very sorry. I promise I'll buy you a new one-a better one."

Troy walked over to his wife and wrapped his arms around her in a tight hug. "You're not to blame, precious. Things like this happen sometimes. You had nothing to do with it."

Gabriella hugged Troy back. "I love you."

"Love you, too."

"We didn't find your phone, either," Brie and Samantha told their father as they cane up to him and Gabriella.

"It's okay," Troy assured the two girls. "I can always get a new one."

"Are you sure you don't want us to look for it anymore?" Gabriella asked.

Troy nodded and kissed Gabriella's nose. "I'm sure. Like I said before, I can always get a new one. I've had the one I just lost for about five years, anyway."

"Daddy, I don't know where it is!" Julliette exclaimed in a panic, rushing up to Troy. "I'm so sorry I couldn't find it."

_Julliette thinks exactly the same way as my Gabby does_," Troy thought to himself. Aloud, he assured his daughter, "It's alright. It can always be replaced. Don't worry about it."

Gabriella let out a sigh. "Well then I guess we can go back to the others if we're done here."

"Yeah," Troy agreed. "And thanks to all of you for helping me look for it."

* * *

Troy walked into the room of the Evans' house he was sharing with the rest of his family. On the end table next to the bed, sat his phone. Apparently he hadn't taken it with him that morning when he had left the house.

Just then, Gabriella entered the room Troy was in.

"Gabby, I found my phone!" Troy announced. "It ended up being here all along."

"We should have come back here before going to Central Park."

"I know. I feel so bad about making you look for it when it was here all along."

"It's fine. Now let's start packing our things up. I don't wanna be late to the airport and miss our flight back home."

Troy nodded in agreement as he pressed a loving kiss onto Gabriella's cheek, then rested his chin on her shoulder, hugging her from behind while he did so. It had been an eventful trip.


	14. Christmas

Two more days passed. In that time, the Boltons had been a very busy family. The day after they had gotten home from New York, they had gone to a Christmas tree shop, bought a tree, and decorated it. Then the day after that, Gabriella had taken Julliette to the eye doctor's. The eye doctor said that Julliette did need some glasses. So she had picked out a pair-with a blue frame, just like she wanted-and to that point was enjoying them. She was very responsible and cleaned them carefully with lens cleaner each morning and each night; she never put them on the floor or another place where they were in danger of being broken.

After all these things, Christmas day arrived.

* * *

Troy and Gabriella opened their eyes the next morning to the sound of Julliette knocking on their door along with Brie. The two girls hadn't outgrown the excitement of Christmas yet; however, Troy Jr. had-or at least he _seemed _to have. In truth, he was probably as excited as his sisters. Samantha's enthusiasm was at the same level as Brie and Julliette's, but she was just too polite to bother her 'parents.'

"We're coming, we're coming," Gabriella told her daughters as she slid out of bed.

Troy followed his wife.

After Gabriella pulled on a pair of sweat pants, Troy got on a shirt, then they both left their bedroom to go downstairs so the kids could start opening their gifts.

"Okay, Julliette, you can go first for opening your stuff," Gabriella decided after her whole family was gathered around the Christmas tree. Troy was holding a camera so he could take pictures.

Julliette grabbed the large gift that was beside her stocking. She then ripped the wrapping paper off of it. After that was completed, she held up a box containing a series of first grade-level books about a little girl Julliette's age and all the things she did. "Books! Thank you, Mommy and Daddy!" Julliette knew, by this time, that Santa wasn't actually a real person.

"You're welcome," Troy and Gabriella both responded.

Julliette then opened all the presents that were in her stocking. Those presents were a chocolate bar, a little pad of drawing paper, stickers, a fancy bookmark, and a stick of bubble gum scented chap stick that was meant for kids.

Next, it was Samantha's turn to open presents. She got a set of six Warriors books for her main gift, then in her stocking she found some M&Ms, a mini calculator, a pocket-size dictionary, a set of winter gloves and a scarf, and a bookmark that looked similar to the one Julliette had gotten.

Troy Jr. was the next one allowed to open his things. He got a new basketball since the one he had at the time was getting old and worn out. For stocking stuffers, he was given a DVD of a whole season of Warriors games, a chocolate bar, a CD of music by his favorite band, a basketball poster for his bedroom, and a game for the Wii that the family had in their house.

Brie opened her things next. She received a pair of pointe slippers. Since she was now twelve years old, and had been taking ballet since she was three, so she was ready to try it en pointe, which made her very happy. In her stocking, she found a DVD of the Nutcracker, some lip gloss, a CD of ballet music for her to practice ballet to, M&Ms, and a colorful beaded bracelet.

Since all the kids were finished with their gifts, it was now Troy and Gabriella's turn to open theirs. Troy decided to let Gabriella go first.

Gabriella ripped the paper off of her main gift, which she discovered was an expensive gold charm bracelet. On it, there was one charm which was in the shape of a heart. Troy had gotten the charm personalized so that it said: T&G. "Troy, I love it!" She leaned over to place a kiss onto her husband's lips.

"I'm glad you do," Troy acknowledged.

Gabriella then opened everything in her stocking. She got a small bottle of perfume, some chocolate candies, a new pair of earrings, a book, and a gift card to the mall so that she could buy whatever she wanted there.

After Gabriella was finished with her things, it was Troy's turn for presents. He got a whole photo album of pictures of Gabriella-and some had him and the kids in them, too-over the years. For stocking stuffers, he received a couple DVDs of movies he had talked about wanting before, a chocolate bar, tickets to a Warriors game, and a Wii game.

"Okay, so this is all for gifts, then," Gabriella observed.

* * *

"Mommy! Grandma's here!" Julliette announced. Gabriella's mother had decided to make the trip to Albuquerque that Christmas since if she didn't, she probably wouldn't get to see Brie for a long time because she would be at the ballet camp during the Boltons' summer visit to her house.

"You can answer the door for her," Gabriella, who was in the kitchen making ham for dinner, told her daughter.

"Okay." Julliette pulled the front door open before Maria could even ring the doorbell. "Hi, Grandma!"

"Hi, Julliette," Maria greeted as she walked into the house.

"Daddy and Troy are playing a Wii game against each other, so try not to make a lot of noise because then they won't be able to concentrate and that will make them both lose."

"Okay. I won't. So, I see you have glasses now. They look nice on you!"

"Thanks! I needed to get them because I have a little trouble seeing far away."

Just then, Gabriella came into the room. "Hi, Mom," she said, walking over to Maria. "How have you been doing since the last time I saw you?"

"Great!"

"That's good."

After about five minutes, Brie and Samantha, who had been upstairs in Brie's room, came down the steps. They greeted Maria, then began to put their Christmas gifts away so that the living room didn't look a mess.

"Troy, Wildcat, can you two get off the Wii and put your Christmas presents upstairs, then Troy, I want you to set the table and Wildcat, please help me finish up dinner."

Troy and Troy Jr. didn't make any move to turn the TV off.

Gabriella made her way over to the sofa, where both Troys were sitting down. Placing herself in between them, she announced, "Wii time is up. Turn the TV off."

Troy, without taking his eyes off the TV screen or his hand off the Wii remote, reached out with his free arm and pulled Gabriella close to him. "I'm sorry; have I been ignoring you?" He pushed a button on the remote to pause the game, then kissed the top of Gabriella's head.

"Dad! What are you doing?" Troy Jr. demanded.

"I think your mother feels like I'm ignoring her," Troy replied.

"Well actually, I'm trying to get you two off the Wii so you can do something around the house," Gabriella explained. "But it doesn't look like it's working very well."

"Yeah, it isn't," Troy Jr. agreed. "Because it's Christmas! You're not supposed to work on a holiday!"

"Helping around the house isn't the same as work. Now go set the table for dinner. And say 'hi' to your grandmother! You didn't even notice she was here yet, did you?"

"No."

Sighing, Gabriella turned toward Troy. "Wildcat, can you please help me with dinner?"

"Okay, honey. Let me just put the game away first."

* * *

Almost an hour had passed. In that time, Troy's parents had gotten to the Bolton house. Brie, Samantha, and Julliette were talking to both them and Maria, Troy was still helping Gabriella with dinner, and Troy Jr. was on the Wii-again.

"Dinner's ready!" Gabriella called from the dining room after a few minutes had gone by.

Everyone came to the table and took a seat, except for Troy Jr. who couldn't tear himself away from the Wii. In fact, he had been so engrossed in the game, he hadn't even heard Gabriella saying that it was dinnertime.

"Where's Troy?" Gabriella wondered. "The other Troy-not the one sitting next to me."

"He's playing on the Wii," Julliette told her mother.

"Troy!" Gabriella shouted. "Get off the Wii! This is the second time today you didn't respond to me speaking because of that thing!"

"Wait, what?" Troy Jr. said, confused.

"Off the Wii! It's dinnertime!"

"Let me just finish this one round of the game. Then I'll be there."

"Troy, out here now," Troy commanded. "We're not gonna wait all day for you. And if you choose not to eat, then you just will have to eat whatever leftovers there are later."

"Fine." Troy Jr. turned off his game, then went into the dining room and took his seat at the table.

* * *

"Guess what?" Gabriella spoke, turning toward her mom. Everyone had finished eating dinner about a half hour ago and now were in the living room getting ready to watch the kids open the gifts from their grandparents.

"What?" Maria responded.

"For my birthday, Troy got a family vacation to Paris! We're going in February. I'm so excited!"

"Paris? That sounds like fun! I've always wanted to go to another country."

Jack and Lucille, who had overheard Gabriella and Maria's conversation, looked at Troy. "You got Gabriella a trip to Paris?" they both questioned.

Troy nodded. "Yeah. I've been saving up for over ten years for this, and now I finally have enough money."

"That was a really nice present," Lucille commented.

"Can we please open our presents now?" Julliette wanted to know. She was getting a bit tired of waiting for the adults to stop talking.

"Yeah," Gabriella answered. "Go ahead."

* * *

Within forty-five minutes, all the gifts were unwrapped. Julliette had gotten a stuffed dog and a board game. Brie received a nail-painting kit with all different colors of nail polish and nail gems. Her other present was a book about a ballerina who was with the New York City Ballet Company. Troy Jr.'s gifts were another Wii game-which Gabriella teasingly scolded Maria for buying for him-and a new basketball net since the one on the hoop he had at the time was torn up. Samantha also got things from Troy and Gabriella's parents; she got a book and a beaded necklace. Troy and Gabriella both just got money from each of their parents.

"Mommy, can you play my new game with me?" Julliette asked.

"Sure," Gabriella replied. "Let's take it into the dining room, though. I don't want it to get in anyone's way in here."

"Okay."

"I'm gonna play my Wii game!" Troy Jr. announced excitedly. "Dad, wanna play against me?"

"Alright," Troy answered.

"Can I play it, too?" Jack wondered.

"Yeah," Troy Jr. responded. "We have four remotes for the Wii."

* * *

Half an hour later, the three boys were still playing on the Wii. Gabriella and Julliette had finished the board game, and Samantha and Brie were upstairs in Brie's room trying out Brie's nail kit.

"Wildcat, you know you've barely spent any time with me today," Gabriella let Troy know as she let out a sigh. "Though I'm happy you're doing something with Troy. But tonight, do you think we could watch a movie and just hang out? The two of us?"

"I lost!" Troy exclaimed, sounding a bit annoyed. "I can believe Troy beat me in this, but Dad? I just got beat by an old man! I'd better practice more!"

"Troy, since when were you allowed to talk like that about your father?" Lucille questioned. "And your wife is trying to ask you a question. You need to pay attention; I thought you were raised better than this!"

"I was kidding about Dad being an old man," Troy defended himself. Then, turning to Gabriella, said, "What were you asking me, baby girl?"

"I wanted to know if tonight you wanted to watch a movie and just hang out with me," Gabriella responded.

"Yeah, of course." After acknowledging Gabriella's request, Troy looked back at the TV screen and pushed a button on his Wii remote to play the game again.

"I never saw boys so engrossed in a video game," Gabriella remarked to Maria.

"This is why I'm glad you were a girl," Maria told her daughter.

Gabriella, suddenly getting an idea, picked up the camera that Troy had been taking photos with that morning. Quickly, she snapped a picture of Troy, Troy Jr., and Jack all playing the Wii game. "And this will be this year's big Christmas memory."

* * *

**Sorry this chapter was so short. I was out of ideas and it took me long enough to get this far.**


	15. Paris

"Everyone ready to go?" Troy asked his family. Time had flown by until mid-February arrived. And with that month came the Paris vacation. What was even better was that the current day was the day the Boltons and Samantha were to leave for it.

Gabriella nodded and smiled as she reached up to place a kiss on her husband's lips. "Thank you so much for getting this present for me," she spoke.

"You're welcome, my love," Troy responded, kissing Gabriella back.

"We're ready!" all the kids announced.

"Okay; well since everyone's ready, let's go."

* * *

At two in the afternoon Paris time-six in the morning Albuquerque time-Troy, Gabriella, Troy Jr., Brie, Samantha, and Julliette arrived at the hotel they were to stay at during their visit in France.

"Um, Gabby honey, do you know French?" Troy asked while he walked into the hotel with his family. "I don't, and we're gonna need someone who knows French to talk to the person at the check-in counter."

"I know a tiny bit," Gabriella responded. "I guess I should've tried to learn more before we came here, though."

"I can speak French," Samantha told her 'parents.'

"Really?" Gabriella said. "I'm so happy to hear that! Do you think you could help us all out while we're here?"

Samantha nodded.

"Great!"

The Boltons approached the check-in counter.

_"Bonjour, Bienvenue dans Le Paradis. Comment puis-je vous aider?"_ asked the man that was standing behind the desk.

"He said: Hello, welcome to The Paradise. How may I help you?" Samantha translated to Gabriella.

"Hi! We have a room reserved here under 'Bolton,'" Gabriella told the man.

_"Bonjour! Nous avons une salle réservée ici dans le cadre de 'Bolton,'"_ Samantha repeated in French.

After a minute of looking through papers, the man found the reservation papers. _"Nous allons ici!"_ he exclaimed. Then, he reached for a key card and handed it to Gabriella. _"Profitez de votre séjour!"_

"First, he said, 'Here we go!' and then he said, 'Enjoy your stay!'" Samantha let Gabriella know.

_"Merci!" _Gabriella acknowledged the man. She knew the French word for 'thank you;' it was just basic knowledge to her.

"It's suite number seven, right?" Troy checked. He was pretty sure he remembered the number of the suite he had reserved a couple months back, but felt that he should make sure that his thoughts were correct.

Gabriella nodded. "Yeah, you're right!"

* * *

Fifteen minutes later, the Boltons had gotten semi-settled into their suite. Their luggage-which they had left in the lobby while checking in-was retrieved and brought into the small living room.

"This is so cool!" Brie said excitedly.

"Now if only they have a basketball court...." Troy Jr. began.

"I'm so happy to be in another country!" Julliette announced.

"Me, too!" Samantha agreed.

Troy and Gabriella looked at one another and exchanged a smile.

"Alright, I know you're excited, but I want you to listen for a minute," Troy instructed. "There are two bedrooms and a sofa bed in here. Your mother and I are definitely getting a room of our own, just because we need privacy to spend time alone together." As he said those words, he glanced over at Gabriella, who was nodding in understanding of what he was referring to. They were in one of the world's most romantic cities-of course they weren't going to be able to refrain from doing 'stuff.'

"Who gets the other room?" Julliette wondered.

"You, Brie, and Samantha," Troy replied. "There's a king-sized bed in there, so two of you can sleep in the bed, and one of you can use the air mattress I requested be put in there."

"When did you ask for an air mattress?" Brie wanted to know.

"When I reserved this suite," Troy answered before finishing up with the bed assignments. "Troy, you can sleep on the sofa bed." After a moment of silence, he remembered something else he needed to say. "Now another thing I want to tell you is to keep in mind that there's only one bathroom that all of us need to share; so no hogging it. When you shower, try not to linger in there longer than you have to." He rested his gaze on Gabriella.

"Why are you looking at me?" Gabriella questioned.

"Quick showers aren't exactly the thing we're best at sometimes," Troy whispered after brushing his lips lightly across his wife's cheek.

Gabriella giggled and placed her head on Troy's shoulder.

"Can we go do something?" Troy Jr. requested.

"Not right this second," Troy told his son. "Let's get all unpacked and stuff. And then we'll see if we have time to do anything before dinner. If not, then we'll just hang out here. Then after dinner, I would like to stay in the room because we missed a whole night of sleep due to the fact that none of us could sleep on the plane. And now it's daytime here in Paris, so we're missing a whole night's sleep."

Troy Jr. looked disappointed.

"We'll do something tomorrow, though," Troy assured his son.

* * *

"They have a McDonalds' in _France_?" Julliette said with surprise as her family arrived at a McDonalds', where they were going to eat dinner that night. Troy had known there were some restaurants across the street from the hotel, so the Boltons-and Samantha-had walked over there.

"Yes. They have McDonalds' restaurants everywhere in the world," Gabriella acknowledged.

"Do they have chicken nuggets at this McDonalds'?"

Gabriella nodded. "I'm pretty sure."

Everyone entered the McDonalds'. And, sure enough, on the menu was a photo of chicken nuggets. In addition to that was a cheeseburger, a hamburger, and a fish sandwich. Of course the side dish offered was fries.

"Yes! They have fries here!" Troy Jr. shouted.

"Of course they do. We're in France, and fries are technically called _French_ fries," Brie reminded her brother.

* * *

"Wildcat," Gabriella began that night in bed after her and Troy had finished a session of making love and were curled up comfortably together under the warm covers.

"Yeah, baby girl?" Troy looked at his wife as he spoke.

"You know how we've been trying to have another baby?"

Troy nodded. "Yeah."

"Well, are you ready to be a father to a fourth-well, fifth of you count Sam-child?" Gabriella gazed intently into Troy's eyes, making sure he understood how serious she was being.

"I'm ready for anything." Troy whispered while brushing a strand of hair behind his wife's ear.

"Because I'm pregnant."

A smile came across Troy's lips as he-without bothering to react with words-wrapped both his arms around Gabriella and cuddled her close to him, allowing sweet kisses to drop onto her waiting lips every few seconds.

Gabriella eagerly returned Troy's affection and snuggled far into him, being sure to get the most of their close, skin-to-skin contact.

Finally, after all that time of silent reaction, Troy murmured, "I love you."

"I love you, too," Gabriella returned.

That was the only thing that passed between the two before they silently began their love-making again, this time taking care to do it with even more passion than the previous session.

* * *

"I'm so happy you're pregnant," Troy remarked the next morning after him and Gabriella were awake. However, both of them were snuggled in bed still because to them-especially Gabriella-it was too chilly to get up.

"I am, too," Gabriella agreed.

"When did you find out?"

"Two days ago. I just wanted to wait to tell you until we were in Paris, though. I was gonna break the news on Valentine's Day, but I just couldn't wait any longer to say something. Besides, I'm about a month pregnant, and in my opinion, I'm very slightly starting to show, so it couldn't really be kept secret any longer. Well, from you anyway. The kids won't be able to tell for a little while yet."

"Oh, yeah! We're gonna be here over Valentine's Day. And the kids-when are we letting them know that they're getting a new sibling?"

"Julliette's birthday is the beginning of March. By that time, I'll be one and a half months pregnant. That's not too far into it. Maybe, since Julliette had wanted a little brother or sister for so long, we could let them all know on her birthday."

Troy kissed Gabriella's forehead. "You know, that's a great idea, precious."

A few moments of silence passed before a knock was heard at the door to Troy and Gabriella's bedroom.

"Don't come in!" Troy warned immediately.

"Okay," came Julliette's voice. "I was just wondering if we're gonna go get breakfast somewhere. It's nine-thirty and Troy, Brie, Sam, and I are getting really hungry."

Gabriella looked over at the clock that was in the room and saw that it was indeed as late as her daughter had just reported. "Well why don't you all get dressed and stuff awhile? Your father and I will start getting ourselves ready right now. Once we're finished, then we can go."

"We are all dressed! And our hair is done, our faces are washed, and our teeth are brushed!"

"Maybe you can turn on the TV and see if anything interesting is on, then."

"Troy was doing that, but everything was in French so we gave up."

"Oh. Well what about the DVDs we brought with us? Why don't you watch one of those?"

"Alright." Julliette left the door.

"I didn't realize it was this late," Troy spoke.

"Me, neither."

"So, I guess we have to get up." Troy got out of bed and started pulling on his clothes that were scattered all over the fluffy tan carpet.

"Yeah," Gabriella confirmed, following Troy and, shivering at the cold air that hit her body, ran up to him and hugged him tightly. "I'm so cold!" she exclaimed.

Troy returned Gabriella's hug. "Just get dressed real fast so you can be warm sooner," he suggested.

"Okay; I will." Gabriella pulled away from her husband's embrace and hurriedly threw her clothes on. "Come on. Let's go get a shower now and do whatever else we need to do to get ready for breakfast."

* * *

**I know, this was another short chapter. But I promise that the next one will be long and have a lot more French stuff in it......also, I have a new story called Whatever it Takes. Please read it because not a lot of people looked at it even though it's been up for 3 days. I got reviews, but on my story stats, not too many people read it. So don't get fooled by the review number. And also, THIS IS IMPORTANT. I AM NOW dancer4ever113. THAT'S MY NEW PEN NAME! I'M TAKING OUT THE HYPHENATION OF IT (dancer4ever113-singer4ever113) RIGHT NOW:)**


	16. Fun and Complaints

Gabriella, sitting on her and Troy's hotel bed, paged through a Paris travel guide. "There are a lot of interesting things in this city," she commented. "I don't know how we're gonna visit them all."

Troy, who was lying lazily next to Gabriella and paging through a sports magazine, responded, "We probably won't get to see everything."

"Well, can we go do something now?" Gabriella wanted to know. "The kids are probably bored, and we came here for a vacation, not just to sit around."

"Are you sure you're gonna be alright?" Troy asked.

"Of course. Why?"

"Because you're pregnant again." Troy wrapped his arms around Gabriella and brought her close to him. "And though you were okay the last two times, I'm just being protective. After all, you are older now and this time could be different than the other times."

"Are you calling me old?" Gabriella questioned as a single tear emerged from her left eye and trickled down her cheek.

Troy silently scolded himself for saying what he had just said to his wife. He should've remembered that she became more sensitive than usual about things when she was pregnant. "Don't cry, my love," he murmured, wiping Gabriella's tear away with his thumb. "I'm so sorry; I didn't say that right. You're not old at all. You don't look a day older than you did when we first met. And you become more beautiful every day-especially now since you have my baby inside of you."

Gabriella smiled and buried her face in Troy's shoulder. "I forgive you," she immediately decided.

"Thanks." Troy pressed his lips against Gabriella's forehead. "Now, let's get ready to go see Paris!"

Troy opened the door for everyone as they approached the _Musée de la Préfecture de Police_. The _Musée de la Préfecture de Police _was a museum of historical crime-related things. The Boltons and Samantha had chosen that museum over the art ones because both Troys would have been falling asleep if they had gone to one that displayed famous paintings.

"This place is gonna be so cool," Troy Jr. commented. "I can't believe I'm going to see awesome things in a museum! The science museum I went to on my school field trip had all boring things like dinosaur bones."

"It wasn't that bad!" Brie and Samantha, who had also participated in the field trip, both disagreed at the same time.

"It was so!" Troy Jr. argued. "And then we had to hear the tour guide person blab about it. It was really stupid! I didn't even care about the things in that place!"

"I want to go there," Julliette spoke.

"No you don't," Troy Jr. informed his younger sister.

"Stop arguing, kids," Troy interrupted, his voice sounding firm, yet calm.

"But they keep on acting like I have to love dinosaur bones," Troy Jr. complained.

"We all know you loved the Barney exhibit," Brie giggled.

"What Barney exhibit?" Troy Jr. demanded. "There was no Barney exhibit. And anyway, I hate that show; it's for babies."

"I just said that to see your reaction, you know."

Troy Jr. glared at his twin sister.

"I said to stop this," Troy said. "No one wants to listen to you fight the entire time we're in the museum."

Troy Jr. and Brie reluctantly began keeping their thoughts to themselves as they walked with their parents, Julliette, and Samantha down the long hall leading to a ticket counter. There, since Troy and Gabriella were paying attention to the woman selling the museum tickets rather than keeping a watchful eye on the kids, Troy Jr. and Brie exchanged irritated glances.

"Barney," Troy Jr. irritably whispered in Brie's ear. "I can't believe you brought up Barney!"

Brie stepped away from her twin and folded her arms over her chest, ignoring the reproaching words.

"Alright, we got the tickets," Gabriella announced as she turned to face her the four children, six tickets showing slightly from between the fingers and palm of one hand, while the other was clasped together with Troy's. "Let's go see all the stuff in here."

"Check this out!" Troy Jr. exclaimed, pointing to some pieces of evidence. "Isn't it awesome? It's _real_ evidence!"

"Yeah," everyone else agreed.

Troy and Gabriella exchanged a smile, delighted that their son had finally found something historical that he didn't find boring, as Troy wrapped an arm around Gabriella's shoulders and briefly pulled her close to his side.

"Look here," Gabriella told Troy Jr., indicating an object behind her.

"What is it?" Troy Jr. wondered curiously, looking at the item curiously.

"It's a guillotine," Gabriella replied.

"What's that?"

"It's something that was used to behead people," Samantha cut in. "It became popular during the French Revolution when people would hunt down French aristocrats so they could kill them."

"Why would they do that?" Julliette questioned.

"I don't know," Samantha shrugged.

"It's so mean!" Brie put in.

"I remember learning about that in high school," Gabriella spoke. "It was terrible! I never understood why people had to be so mean to those aristocrats!"

"When did we learn that?" Troy gave his wife a nonplussed gaze.

"In our junior year, near spring break."

"Oh, I don't remember that."

"You were writing 'Go Wildcats' on a paper to put in your locker at that time."

"How do you remember?"

Gabriella reached up to place a loving kiss onto Troy's lips. "Because I know you so well. And I keep all our high school memories inside my head." She ran her delicate fingers through Troy's hair. "And and another thing I know about you that you need a haircut."

"Yeah; I know. I'll go get it cut when we get back home."

"I think I'm gonna get mine cut here. I've always wanted to get a Paris makeover. Oh, and I'll also look for some French-designed-" Gabriella cut herself off and lowered her voice to the softest whisper as she stood on her tiptoes so that her lips were no further than a centimeter away from Troy's ear. "Maternity clothes."

"Gabby, baby, you spoil yourself all you want." Troy brushed his lips across his wife's cheek.

"Mom, Dad, come on!" Troy Jr. urged. "I want to go see something else!"

"We're coming," Troy acknowledged, giving Gabriella a loving smile before taking her hand and walking by her side as the two followed the kids over to the next section of the building.

"I don't know what anything on this menu is," Troy Jr. complained after opening the menu placed at his seat at the table in the French restaurant. For breakfast, Troy and Gabriella had taken the kids to McDonalds' again, and for lunch, they had just bought some sandwiches at a sandwich shop. This was their first time eating at an actual sit-down restaurant in France.

"Ask Sam what all the words mean, then," Gabriella suggested.

Troy Jr. looked over at his friend. "Can you help me with these French things?"

"Sure. Now you're going to need to choose an _entrée_, a _plat principal_, and a dessert." However, after looking over the menu, Samantha found only one type of soup available for the evening. "The soup for today is _le tourin_, and that's a garlic soup."

Troy Jr. stuck his tongue out. "Garlic soup!"

"Maybe it won't be as bad as it sounds," Brie told her brother.

"I hope not," Troy Jr. responded.

"And for the _entrées_, there's _poulet_, which is chicken, _dinde_-turkey-_canard_-duck-_oie_-goose-_boeuf_-beef, and _escargot_, which is snail."

"Goose? Snail?" Troy Jr. wrinkled his nose. "That sounds worse than the garlic soup!"

"Don't get those things, then," Gabriella said.

"Believe me; I won't."

"And now, for a vegetable. You can get a _pomme de terre_, which is a potato-"

"No more, please. I want the potato. I don't want you to get to anything gross. Stop there. Now how about dessert? Is chocolate cake anywhere on the menu? And if it is, what's it called in French?"

"In France, they have fruit for dessert-they have fruit. Or, you can get a cheese course in place of dessert."

"I want fruit. The cheese would probably turn out to be nasty-tasting."

"Alright." Samantha helped Troy Jr. pick out a type of fruit, then told him, "The meal will come with mineral water, too. That's a popular dinnertime drink in this country."

"Okay," Troy Jr. spoke.

"Can you help me next?" Julliette requested politely.

"Sure," Samantha replied.

At that moment, a tall woman with blonde, shoulder-length curls arrived at the table. In French, she politely asked for everybody's order while pulling out a small tablet of paper from her apron pocket.

Samantha told the waitress-in French-what everyone wanted.

The waitress, still speaking in French, said a thank you, then collected all the menus lying at each place setting on the table.

While waiting for their food, the Boltons and Samantha talked about how the trip was going so far. Once they were finished discussing that, they told one another their favorite thing that was at the museum they had just been at. By the time they were finished, their _entrées_ arrived.

"What's with this garlic thing?" Troy Jr. wondered in disgust as he looked down into his bowl of soup. "This looks more like gunk than food."

"It's just how the soup looks," Gabriella informed her son. "So please don't make a big deal out of it. I know we aren't speaking in French, but people can tell by your face that you're not happy."

"But it's-"

"Be quiet," Troy demanded sternly.

Troy Jr. silently pushed his bowl away after lazily stirring the substance inside of it with his spoon. He shifted his eyes toward the red-brown carpet beneath his chair and shuffled his feet around. He then brought his gaze back to where it had been before allowing himself to turn his head in all directions, seeing what others were eating.

"Troy, you should try this soup," Samantha encouraged. "It's better than it looks."

"No way," Troy Jr. mumbled in response.

After a few more minutes of waiting, the waitress arrived back at the table holding plates that contained everyone's _plat principals_. She placed them at the correct spot, then dropped her blue eyes toward Troy Jr.'s uneaten bowl of _le tourin_. _"Souhaitez vous que?" _she inquired, surprised.

Troy Jr. bit his lip in concentration. What was this French lady saying to him?

"She said, 'Don't you want that?'" Samantha helped.

Troy Jr. shook his head furiously.

The waitress removed the soup that had disgusted her American customer before briskly walking back toward the kitchen. Upon reaching it, she let out a comment that, by the tone, could easily be defined as one of horror.

"I think the waitress is offended that you didn't eat your soup," Brie remarked.

"Why should that bother her?" Troy Jr. wanted to know.

Brie shrugged. "I have no idea, but it seems like it did, so nice going." The last three words were spoken with sarcasm.

"There's an indoor pool in this hotel," Troy informed everyone as they arrived back in their suite after finishing up their meal at the restaurant. "Should we go swimming there for a little?"

"Yeah!" all the kids shouted at once.

"Calm down! We have to get ready first."

"I'm glad Mommy said for me to bring my bathing suit," Julliette told Troy Jr., Brie, and Samantha.

Troy and Gabriella exchanged a smile and a quick hug before going to their room to get changed.

"Wildcat, can you hand me my bathing suit?" Gabriella requested as she sat down on the bed and began pulling her clothes off.

"Of course," Troy answered, opening up the suitcase that was next to the bed and tossing a medium blue one piece swimsuit to his wife. "I still so happy you're pregnant," Troy remarked while throwing his clothes into the same suitcase he had just gotten Gabriella's bating suit from and pulling on first his swimming shorts, then a t-shirt.

"I know; so am I," Gabriella smiled, rising from her seat and putting her regular clothes over her swimsuit.

"I can hardly believe it, either, it's so wonderful. My precious Gabby is having a fourth baby." Troy walked over to his wife and, wrapping both his arms around her, kissed the top of her head before placing his hand beneath her chin and making her look up at him.

Gabriella giggled a little bit before complying to what she knew Troy's wish was by placing her soft lips onto his. "I love you," she murmured, softly.

Troy returned Gabriella's kiss. "I love you, too."

Troy and Gabriella stayed in one another's embrace for a minute or two before exiting their room. Just as they sat down on the sofa with Troy Jr., who was already set to go, Brie, Julliette, and Samantha came out of their room, all wearing shorts on top of their bathing suits.

"Isn't it a bit cold for shorts?" Gabriella spoke.

"No," all the girls answered at once.

"There is heat in here," Troy Jr. reminded his parents as he stood up.

"I guess so," Gabriella shrugged.

"Not everyone gets as chilly as you do, either, my love," Troy whispered into his wife's ear before pressing a kiss onto her forehead.

Gabriella smiled. "Let's just get towels, then go down to the pool."

The Boltons and Samantha entered the pool area. The noise of it was a thousand times more irritating than the noise at American pools. Toddlers shouting in joy and parents calling out their children's names all sounded like a blur since they were using their native language.

Troy Jr. took off his shirt and shoes, then jumped into the pool, right at the area where kids about the age of nine were gathered. As a result of his action, he ended up splashing them all.

"Troy!" Troy yelled.

"Yeah, Dad?" Troy Jr. acknowledged in a loud voice.

"Be nice."

Troy Jr., apparently not realizing that what he had done was wrong, shrugged and swam off.

Brie, Julliette, and Samantha hurried over to the steps, where they slowly walked into the cool, clear water.

"You going in?" Troy asked Gabriella.

Gabriella shook her head. "Not right now." She took a seat in one of the beach chairs surrounding the pool. "Are you getting in or do you want to sit here with me?"

"Since I love you so very much, I'll sit with you," Troy answered, getting onto the chair next to Gabriella, and, reclining back, pulling her close to him so that her head was resting against his chest and her legs were tangled with his.

"So, you feeling okay?"

Gabriella nodded. "I'm completely fine. I just don't feel like getting in the water now."

"You worried about our baby?" Troy reached underneath Gabriella's shirt and lovingly rubbed her stomach through the material of her bathing suit.

"A little," Gabriella confessed. "Now could you please get your hand out from under my top? I enjoy you rubbing my stomach and all, but people around here might get the wrong idea, and I don't want to get banned from a hotel in France."

"I'm sorry, baby girl," Troy apologized, doing as Gabriella had asked him to do.

"You can kiss me, though," Gabriella giggled.

Troy took advantage of that statement and gave his wife several kisses on her lips, forehead, cheeks, and nose before resting both his nose and forehead onto hers so that their faces were practically connected. "So, I guess this is a good birthday present for you so far," Troy remarked, slowly pulling away from Gabriella.

Gabriella nodded. "Yeah. It most definitely is."

"How about we get in the water now?"

"Wildcat...." Gabriella pouted, giving Troy a pleading look. That never failed to get him onto her side.

"Honey...." Troy responded, giving Gabriella the same look she was giving him.

Gabriella giggled.

"You know what? You win," Troy sighed. "I don't know why you have to be so adorable, but I think that might be part of the reason I'm tempted to spoil you, especially when you give me that cute, begging look."

Gabriella giggled again. "I love you, Wildcat."

"Love you, too."


	17. The Eiffel Tower

The last night in Paris came. Troy and Gabriella had instructed the four kids to stay in the hotel room, the older ones keeping an eye on Julliette, while they took a well-deserved alone trip to the Eiffel Tower. Ever since they had set foot on French ground, they'd always wanted to spend an evening alone-just the two of them-without kids arguing or coming up to them with problems.

"It's so beautiful from up here," Gabriella commented, peering over the wall of the Tower.

"Yeah, but you're much more beautiful than the nighttime city of Paris," Troy responded, going over to Gabriella and wrapping his arms around her waist from behind.

Gabriella smiled. "Thanks."

"Do you want to eat now?" Troy asked.

"Alright," Gabriella answered.

Troy took Gabriella's hand and led her over to the picnic basket he had brought with them. From it, he pulled out a container of chocolate-covered strawberries and two slices of pizza, the things he had selected to surprise Gabriella with.

"Troy, you're so sweet!" Gabriela exclaimed, noticing the food choices Troy had made. "You know exactly how I like our picnics."

"Well, our picnics wouldn't be the same without this food."

"You're right about that."

"So, did you have a good vacation?" Troy wondered, taking a bit of his pizza.

Gabriella nodded. "The best. Thank you so much for taking me here."

"No problem. I'll do anything for you, and you know that." Troy reached over and tucked a stray piece of Gabriella's hair behind her ear.

After letting out a slight giggle, Gabriella moved from her spot across from Troy to sit beside him.

"Hey, baby girl," Troy greeted, wrapping an arm around Gabriella's shoulders.

"Hey, Wildcat."

Troy took a strawberry and offered it to Gabriella. "This is for you."

"Thanks," Gabriella acknowledged, biting into the sweet fruit and savoring the taste on her tongue. "Mmmm, it's so juicy and yummy. You made a good choice when you were picking these out."

"I'm glad you like it," Troy responded, popping the other half of the chocolate-covered fruit into his mouth. After he finished chewing and swallowing, he kissed the top of his wife's head.

"Troy, kiss me," Gabriella pleaded, gazing into Troy's eyes.

"I just did," Troy said, pretending he didn't know what Gabriella was talking about.

"No, I mean I want you to kiss me, kiss me," Gabriella giggled.

Troy, without hesitation, crashed his lips down onto Gabriella's in a passionate kiss, his arms wrapping around her body as he did so.

Gabriella returned the kiss, allowing her arms to fasten around her husband's neck.

"You know," Troy began when he and Gabriella finally broke their kiss off, "I feel like we're the only people in the world right now."

Happy tears flooded Gabriella's brown eyes. "Oh, Troy; you're wonderful," she breathed.

"Well, I think I can make myself seem even more wonderful," Troy declared. "Because now, I have a song that I've worked hard on for the past six months, and I would like to sing it to you."

"Go on," Gabriella urged.

Troy opened his mouth and, staring straight into Gabriella's eyes, began to sing:

_Right now I feel,_

_Like we're the only ones in the world._

Gabriella, picking up the tune, decided to join in the song:

_It seems like my heart,_

_Can't hold any more love for you._

_When I look in your eyes,_

_I can get so easily lost._

_When you say you love me,_

_I know I never wanna be without you._

_Oh, our love goes farther than the longest ocean,_

_And can beat life's sudden motions._

_I've been okay this far just because I have you (You have me with you)_

_And I'm prepared for anything else I'll need to do (Anything else you can do)_

_Everything that happens makes me love you more._

_Being near you makes me feel like I could soar._

_I feel like I am strong (I know I make you strong)_

_And I still want our songs (You still want our songs to play)_

_You mean everything to me._

_You can see things,_

_About me no one else can._

_You support me in,_

_Everything I do._

_And right here I feel,_

_That we're in the perfect place._

_Under the stars at night,_

_I think I might never wanna leave._

_Oh, our love goes farther than the longest ocean,_

_And can beat life's sudden motions._

_I've been okay this far just because I have you (You have me with you)_

_And I'm prepared for anything else I'll need to do (Anything else you can do)_

_Everything that happens makes me love you more._

_Being near you makes me feel like I could soar._

_I feel like I am strong (I know I make you strong)_

_And I still want our songs (You still want our songs to play)_

_You mean everything to me._

_Oh, yeah, you mean everything to me (Everything)_

_You mean everything to me._

"That was...beautiful," Gabriella complimented when she and Troy had finished singing. "I'm impressed. I didn't know you could make up such good songs."

"You know I'll always do my best for you," Troy responded, wrapping Gabriella in his arms.

"I know," Gabriella murmured, returning Troy's loving embrace.

"Hey, do you wanna hear something I've always wanted to tell you here, in Paris, on the top of the Eiffel Tower?" Troy wanted to know.

"What is it?" Gabriella questioned.

"I love you," Troy replied, smiling as he pressed his lips to Gabriella's in the beginnings of a kiss.

"I love you, too," Gabriella returned while kissing her husband in return.

During the time they kissed, Troy and Gabriella considered all the things that had happened to them since they had first became a high school couple. They had gotten engaged, then married, then went through two pregnancies that gave them three kids, and now were staring to go through a third one. They had come so far since that karaoke night at the ski lodge, and they were sure that as they went further, their relationship would continue to grow stronger and stronger.

* * *

**I know, crappy ending, right? Sorry, but this was originally going to be about a 40 chapter story, but I really didn't want to write anymore, as I feel my newer stories are coming along smoother. And there will be NO HSM9. THIS IS THE END OF THE SERIES. Sorry to all of you who wanted a sequel to this:(**

**I'm gonna do an epilogue right now, so it'll probably be done and posted within the next hour. Again, sorry for the crappy work I gave you here. I promise that, if you want to check out my other fics, they'll be much better. I posted the first half of a new twoshot today **_**It's Like Catching Lightning**_**. Please check that out, and coming over the summer, after I finish up some of my other fics, will be a forbidden love story about Troyella. I PROMISE it'll be fabulous, and (hopefully) different from the other forbidden love stories on here, so please look for that soon! Thank for all your support with my writing, and thanks for your feedback on every chapter I've posted of this!**


	18. Epilogue

A year later, Gabriella sat on the living room sofa, a baby who was born only a couple months before in her arms, drinking a bottle. Madison Alexia Bolton. She had Troy's blue eyes and hair color, but Gabriella's curls and soft features. The Boltons all loved her, especially-and surprisingly-Troy Jr. Since her arrival, the only Bolton son had become calmer, sweeter, and more respectful of his family.

"Look at our daughter," Troy commented, coming into the room.

"I'm still amazed that this is our fourth baby together," Gabriella murmured as her husband took a seat beside her.

"So am I."

As Madison pulled away from her bottle, Gabriella handed her to Troy. "Here. Let me put the bottle away." She left the room, returning a moment later and taking a seat beside her husband.

"You know," Troy began, "We're going to be taking care of kids for a long time."

"Yeah, but we have fun with it."

Troy turned to Gabriella to give her a kiss. "That's because we love each other," he explained.

Gabriella smiled as she returned the kiss. Troy's words were true. They did-and always would-love one another.

* * *

**I know, I know, it's crappy and rushed. But I had to get finished with this story, and I thought you would at least want to see the new baby. **

**Again, I'm recommending my newer stories, especially my twoshot and the upcoming one about forbidden love between Troyella:)**


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